Today the Episcopal Church remembers Charles Chapman Grafton, 1830–1912, Bishop of Fond du Lac Wisconsin and ecumenist

                                    Antiphon:  Canticle 11 /John 8:33 

Arise, 

shine, 

for  

your 

light 

has 

come, 

and 

the 

glory of the Lord has dawned upon you 

                                   *** *** *** 

                                                                   I was ready for the canticle after the OT lesson and this verse sprang to mind.  Great. What image, then? I looked up and saw what you see in this picture. Perfect for today as my Dad approaches the end of a long and faithful life.* I took the picture and returned to my prayers and it was then that I discovered that  the verse is from Canticle 11 and today’s canticle is 13… "Oh dear.  If I used the wrong canticle , everybody’d  think I don’t know what I’m doing!" “And what does everybody matter?”  came the amused rely.  Got it.  Both verse and image were the right ones, so I went  on with Morning Prayer  And I got the joke when I came to John 8:33:  "They  [the religious authorities] answered him, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” God makes me laugh.  A friend recently reminded me that the rather odious word obey comes from the Latin word for to hear…                

             *Keep us in  your prayers, will you? 

               This part sucks.