i sit sipping coffee before sunrise. the stars are all washed away by he dawn's spreading light. it must be full sunrise in the stratosphere. down here in the holler, i still need a candle.
it is the commemoration of phillips brooks. it's hard to get excited about phillips brooks, stuck as he is in this week of dramatic martyrs like agnes and fabian and vincent of sarragosa, all of whom died heroically in times of great tribulation.
brooks died in fashionable boston comfort, after 22 years as the rector of trinity parish and 15 months as the bishop of massachusetts. yet, as david l. veal writes, "he preached sound christian doctrine to listeners who ostensibly had no interest in such." he is therefore, i think, a much more helpful saint for most of us today , especially those of us who try to live lives based on sound christian doctrine in a world that clearly has very little interest in such. he is one of the candles most of us need.
(he also wrote the christmas carol, "o little town of bethlehem".)
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