We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

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Can you walk on water ?

“And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.” Matthew 14:25-27

Notes from https://www.scienceabc.com/pure-sciences/can-you-humans-walk-on-water-myth-buoyancy-density-viscosity.html

“Miracles, like those we read about in Matthew 14 are similar to parables. Both miracles and parables prompt much wondering. In the case of miracles, many people often wonder “Could this really have happened?”

“The principle that determines whether a body can sink or not is called Archimedes’ Principle. It states that, for a body to float, it needs to displace the exact same amount of water with a weight equal to the total weight of the floating body. The weight of the displaced water exerts a force on the body, causing it to float. This force is called buoyant force and we can change its value by changing certain characteristics of water.

“The condition for floating is quite simple: the buoyant force should be greater than or equal to the weight of the body. If the value of buoyant force is large enough, then a body floats; otherwise, it sinks. The only thing we need to worry about is how we can increase this buoyant force.

“So… How Can We Walk On Water?

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Ask Yourself -What are you grateful for?

By Donna Britt July 21, 2020 at 12:42 p.m. EDT

A few years back, I was headed to the grocery store to buy a lottery ticket whose jackpot was a half-billion dollars when I ran into my neighbor Kathy. Asked if she, too, was joining the throngs buying tickets at gas stations and convenience stores, this happily married mom and grandma replied:

“I already feel like I hit the lottery.”

Her response was a wonderful example of the ancient spiritual principle that anyone looking for uplift in an anxiety-filled world might consider. Ask yourself a simple question:

What are you grateful for?

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The Transfiguration with Desmond Tutu

The Transfiguration is a transformation and emphasizes that the mission of  Jesus in the way of the cross. We celebrate this event on Aug. 6

“Transfiguration” by Carl Bloch (1872)

From Luke – “Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah” —not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.

In his book, God Has A Dream: A Vision of Home for Our Time, Desmond Tutu tells about a transfiguration experience that he will never forget. It occurred when apartheid was still in full swing. Tutu and other church leaders were preparing for a meeting with the prime minister of South Africa to discuss the troubles that were destroying their nation. They met at a theological college that had closed down because of the white government’s racist policies. During a break from the proceedings, Tutu walked into the college’s garden for some quiet time. In the midst of the garden was a huge wooden cross. As Tutu looked at the barren cross, he realized that it was winter, a time when the grass was pale and dry, a time when almost no one could imagine that in a few short weeks it would be lush, green, and beautiful again. In a few short weeks, the grass and all the surrounding world would be transfigured.  

As the archbishop sat there and pondered that, he obtained a new insight into the power of transfiguration, of God’s ability to transform our world. Tutu concluded that transfiguration means that no one and no situation is “untransfigurable.” The time will eventually come when the whole world will be released from its current bondage and brought to share in the glorious liberty that God intends

RECOVERY!

Original article on the damage

From Catherine, July 31, 2023- “Johnny and Cookie Davis, and Tommy Hicks, a farm truck and a tractor, and a large crew of many other parishioners and neighbors were able to clear the back of the church of the debris from the crown of the tree that had broken off and ended up in the driveway behind the church.  Thanks to all of you who helped with this project.”

Most of the work involved a four-part process: 

  1. Gathering.

Parishioners gathered loose branches and piled them up. We had several piles going at a time. This was a task everyone could help with. 

  1. Cutting 

Johnny Davis and Larry Saylor brought chain saws to help this process as well as cut debris too large for the truck. 

  1. The tractor came by to grab the gathered portions of the cleared portions and pieces of the wood. It was an amazing piece of machinery that could handle logs and branches with leaves and anything else it could trap.
  1. The tractor gatherings would be taken to the truck which then would be dumped. To get all of it in, chain saws were used to cut the wood.

During the day, there were obstacles that had to be overcome. The main one was what to do with the main section which was in the shape of a tripod.  They tried to move it using straps but they broke. The solution was to cut individual pieces using the chain saw

It wasn’t all work. There were benefits to the day.  It was a day the parish could bind together in a common task with additional help from the community.  Off and on we had more than 30 people of all ages.  This was good hospitality outside of the Sunday services that involved all ages. Luckily the heat was much lower than the previous week!

One benefit was noticing a bumper crop of pears in the tree beside the parish house. The youth gathered them and put them in a bowl. What a blessing from nature gives amidst the cleanup of what nature took away. This tree may have ome from the time of Rev. Sigismund Stribling Ware (“Sig”) when he preached at St. Peter’s from 1888 to 1918.  His wife planted fruit trees at the church. This may be the only one left.

We had one of two estimates for the remaining tree. The contractor felt like the tree would revive with trimming of the damaged portions.  The best news!

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Moving speech from Stuart Scott in 2014 in winning the JimmyV perseverance

Stuart, an ESPN host since 1993, was recognized towards the end of the ESPY awards show for his efforts in sports journalism. He has been battling a rare form of cancer for 7 years. He won the JimmyV Perseverance Award.

For Scott, giving up is not an option; he has refused to backdown. He has not allowed the disease to dictate how he lived. Fighting is winning and not quitting.

He has continued his work as an announcer with ESPN through it all doing what he loves and remaining a devoted father at the same time.

Here is his story and speech this week. We keep him in our prayers. 

He died in early 2015.

Jim Valvano’s acceptance speech in 1993  in accepting the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award is moving now as it was then. He died only months later.
 

Valvano was a legendary coach at NC State and later announcer. His  speech at the 10th anniversary of that institution’s university’s 1983 NCAA championship stressed the importance of hope, love and persistence, and included his famous "Don’t give up, don’t ever give up" quotation.

Other Voices of the Human Spirit

"The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one’s opportunities and make the most of one’s resources."- Luc de Clapiers
" Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."- e. e. cummings 
" Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us."  -Wilma Rudolph 
" It is inevitable that some defeat will enter even the most victorious life. The human spirit is never finished when it is defeated… it is finished when it surrenders." – Ben Stein 

Celebrating the Human Spirit

Remembering Raoul Wallenberg and the "Righteous Gentiles"

July 9th is the anniversary to the day of Raoul Wallenberg’s arrival in Budapest in 1944 to begin a rescue mission that would result in his saving 100,000 Jewish lives. On that day in 2014, Wallenberg received posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian award of the US.

Links:

1. More about the "Righteous Gentiles"

2. Congressional Luncheon honoring the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation

3. US Holocaust Museum article on Wallenberg