23 July: Bridget of Sweden

Hi, everyone!

June and I are spending the week in Destin, Floria, a nice enough place, but terribly monocultural: white uninterrupted sand beaches (void of sea vegetation, few birds, no hermit crabs, and so on). The place is the darling of postcard photographs with their emerald seascapes, but has little or none of excitement of the real world with all its grandeur of God's whole creation. In short, it all exhibits a remarkably protracted vision of the creation. There are lots of shops and boutiques for those consumers caught up in our American cultural imagery. And I admit that here I am in a Barnes and Noble, clicking away on my laptop in a Starbuck cafe, an empty cup of house brew on the table. So it's more than a bit hypocritcal to carry on too much. June and I are here as guests, taking morning walks along the "perfect" beach, taking the open morning times to pray and read. In fact, on Saturday I bought a copy of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows and have been reading it with considerable delight (it's quite a page-burner).

Today the Church commemorates Birgitta (Bridget) Birgerstotter of Sweden, a favorite among Lutheans and Episcopalians. Do visit this short biography and thank God her witness to the Truth, her commitment to the poor among us, and her willingness to stand up and speak to the so-called temporal authorities.