Rector's Note: Back from the Beach, Into the Heart-7.10.25

I wasn’t sure what to write about today for my Rector’s note after two weeks away. There is indeed much that’s on my mind. For example:

• Please continue to pray for the people affected by the recent floods in West Texas as they bury the dead, search for the missing, and begin the long process of healing and rebuilding. The news is absolutely heartbreaking. Episcopal Relief and Development’s U.S. disaster response efforts are worth your financial support at times like these, as the organization helps local Episcopal dioceses and churches respond appropriately to nearby disasters over the long haul. You can learn more about its response in the Diocese of West Texas here.

• The Internal Revenue Service, reversing decades of policy, now says that churches can endorse political candidates. But I won’t be doing that from the pulpit, as this bit of separation of church and state is worth respecting. Better to point out what the Gospel requires of people of good will and to encourage us all to vote for those that uphold those values of love and justice. No one fits the bill fully and most of the work of citizenship comes after the vote, when we urge our elected officials to right action and hold them accountable for what they do in our name. That work has become particularly pressing, as we know, and we as a faith community will continue to live out our Gospel witness with prayerful discernment and the courage of the Spirit.

• I had a lovely vacation and spent about a week of it in Puerto Rico with my family. We visited amazing museums, great restaurants and incredible beaches with palm trees and clear ocean water. I didn’t know the history of the island before going and did manage to read a few books in preparation. When you’re married to a historian, there will always be book suggestions at the ready. We read War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolution and Terror in America's Colony by Nelson A. Denis, former editorial director of El Diario/La Prensa, the largest Spanish-language newspaper in NYC. I also read the touching novel America’s Dream by Esmeralda Santiago.

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an unincorporated territory of the United States. Residents have some of the rights of US citizenship, but not all. They cannot vote in national elections, for example. Residents also have varied opinions on whether they would like Puerto Rico to be a U.S. state, have independence from the US, or keep things as they are. It is a beautiful island with a painful history, which was just under the surface of the buildings of Old San Juan.

Anyway, that gives you a sense of how the Ballengers do vacations.

• But I also wanted to find something light-hearted to discuss in this first Rector’s Note back from vacation, as summer beckons us and our hearts need refreshing. In that vein, I discovered that today is National Clerihew Day, which I never heard of until today. According to the National Day Calendar, this is a day to celebrate the Clerihew, which is a poem style created by Edmund Clerihew Bentley. According to the calendar site, “Bentley’s four-line biographical poem offers a brief, though whimsical, approach to poetry.” The English novelist, who wrote at the turn of the 20th century, developed this poetry style at the age of 16. Here are the rules:

o It must be 4 lines written in rhyming couples of AA/BB.

o A person's name must be in the first line.

o Something must be said about that person.

o It includes a bit of humor.

I leave you with my own version.

Reverend Barb is at her station

After two weeks on vacation

Read and slept and hit the beach

And now is home and back in reach.

Try writing one about yourself to lend a bit of levity to the week. Send me a copy!

Happy National Clerihew Day and summer blessings!