Love

"Always be as kind as you can, 

for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."

Where this quotation came from who knows, but it showed up in an email and seems right and good. 

On a counter in Battin Hall there is a box of lenten mite boxes folded flat. You take one, fold it into a box, punch out the little slot in top, and each day of Lent you put a coin in, the money collected being designated for a good work, I think this year to Episcopal Relief and Development’s Japan Earthquake Response Fund. In my day, on Easter the children came up in the entry procession with both hands full. Their fistful of flowers to decorate the cross was in one hand and their mite box in the other hand. Both were stuffed into a large cross up front, made to hold flowers and mite boxes. A heavy mite box was a sure sign of a faithful Lent. Two pennies and a dollar stuffed in on the way to church on Easter morning was a sure sign of slackness!

Lent is not the only mite box. Begun in 1889 and sponsored by the Episcopal Church Women, the United Thank Offering ingathering happens twice a year, spring and fall. The UTO offering is collected in blue boxes and used for grants to support projects of need in the Church around the world.

Some years ago we had a red and white mite box with red printing, a message from the Presiding Bishop that said

Love is not a feeling

Love is how you treat other people

Love is kindness, thoughtfulness, gentleness, patience, consideration, generosity, time ...

Love, kindness, is important, because you never know what kind of day or week the other person is having.

"Always be as kind as you can, 

for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."

Peace

TW