CONFESSIONS OF A SINNER
I have titled my visit with you today
the CONFESSIONS OF A SINNER. Well,
aren’t we all, one way or another!
I’ve been told that Confession is good
for the soul!! I think it was a
Catholic Priest that told me that! So,
with that said, I’d like to make my Confessions to you this afternoon. No, it’s not the kind of confessions some of
you may be hoping for. You can put away
your paper, pencils and tape recorders.
My First Confession is that I
was born a P.K. For those of you who do
not know, a P.K. is a Preacher’s Kid. We
are those sweet little angelic children you see running lose around the Church. You know, the ones with those little wings
and halos, who spend their time making life fun for the Minister and his
family? Like the time I went running
down the aisle in the middle of my Dad’s sermon hollering Daddy, Daddy, Daddy! Or, the time I thought it would be fun to
initiate a game of hide and seek with my Mom during an evening prayer
service. I took off crawling underneath
three rows of pews before she was able to catch me by the ear and walk me out
the back door of the Church. To my
chagrin, once we got outside I realized she wasn’t smiling.
1.
Over
the years, one of the many wonderful lessons I have learned from my parents is
that when moving to a new town, finding a spiritual home for our family is just
as important as finding our physical home.
Over the 50 plus years of our married
lives, Dottie and I have moved several times and have found spiritual homes in
denominations as disparate as that of the Disciples of Christ (my father’s
Church) , to being New England Congregationalist, to Main Line Philadelphia
Presbyterians, to now being Episcopalians.
I think it is safe to say that we are NOT Cradle Episcopalians. But, neither of us feel
this is either a drawback or a hindrance. What we have discovered throughout
our lives is that we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and that we
carry that Church with us in our hearts, wherever we go.
With that said, it was not surprising
that St. Philip’s in The Hills easily became that new spiritual home for us
when we moved to Tucson. St. Philip’s
had a way of making us feel instantly at home, regardless of our past spiritual
sojourning.
So, I guess my Second Confession will
come as no surprise to you. Which is, we LOVE St. Philip’s!
2.
Upon our first visit here we fell in
love with the architectural beauty of this Church and its grounds. A Church that enjoys a rich tradition in our
community as a Joesler designed House of
Worship. A Church that
has been recognized by the Congress of the United States by having been placed
on The National Register of Historic Places. And that’s not all; in addition we also fell
instantly in love with the beautiful music of this Church and its
priceless collection of religious art.
But most importantly we discovered a warm and caring Clergy, a
professional staff, and Parishioners who welcomed us with open arms, even if we
had been former Disciples of Christ.
As for my Third Confession, I
must admit that we discovered a uniquely active St. Philip’s that is deeply
involved in bringing the Word of Jesus Christ into our community. We have never been part of a Congregation
that has so many active missions and ministries, all designed to minister to
our Parishioners and to those who surround us with personal and family
needs. As a Church we help cloth the
needy, provide a food bank to support those families who need our help. Through Habitat for Humanity we help to build
homes for the homeless; we make sandwiches for the hungry through our Casa
Maria ministry; we help to council and consol those souls who are in need
through our Alannon Program, and we pray for each
other and those who are in need of help.
It is this last ministry that has especially touched the lives of
our Driskill Family.
3.
It was the middle of April, 2009 that
we received a telephone call from our oldest son to tell us that his beloved
wife, our daughter-in-law Kyle, had just been diagnosed with stage four cancer with a prognoses of living for less than a year. Then just two weeks later, we learned that
Dottie had a brain tumor and that it needed to be operated on as soon as
possible. Our family was rocked to its
core as we tried to deal with these almost simultaneous events. How would we survive? Where would our family turn for strength,
hope, and courage to get us through the days that were surely to come? The answer was PRAYER.
As we struggled to cope with these
frightening issues we suddenly realized that we were surrounded not only with
the love, thoughts and prayers of our immediate family and friends, but by a
Community of Saints we were soon to discover within our St. Philip’s
family. Dottie and Kyle were prayed for
by our Clergy and our Pastoral Care Volunteers.
They were given prayer shawls knitted with the loving hands and prayers
of our Prayer Shawl Ministry. Dottie was
visited by our Clergy and Parishioners from our Hospital Visitation Ministry
who brought with them the love and strength that are so necessary for the healing
process, and so much a part of our personal faith. It was the love and strength of our Lord
Jesus Christ extended to us through His loving Ministers of Faith.
4.
And as of today I am happy to report to
you that Dottie is completely healed, and to share with you that our
daughter-in-law, Kyle continues to battle her cancer some thirty months later,
buoyed by the strength of the continuing prayers that come from our many
friends and you, our St. Philip’s family.
So you see, there
are so many ways that St. Philip’s ministers to all of us. Aren’t we fortunate to be a part of a Church
that means so much to us and to our community?
However, if St. Philip’s is to continue its many missions and
ministries, it will need YOUR HELP!! It
will need you to give unselfishly of your precious time, talents and yes money.
As we approach this years Stewardship
season, let us do so in a spirit of prayer.
Pray for the Lord to guide you in your financial commitment to His work
in the coming year. For it is only
through your unselfish giving that St. Philip’s will have the financial
resources to fulfill its Missions of Outreach and Help to a needy community.
As our family has learned, prayer can
accomplish the impossible, if we have faith, and your help!
5.