"The stars declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork."                                                                       Psalm 19:1

Dear People of St. David's, 

I pray that you are well and want to offer a word of thanks to all of you who made the Cornerstone Weekend a success. This past weekend was a magnificent celebration of all that God has been doing at St. David's Church these past 300 years, and all that God is doing and will do among us today and going forward. Thanks to the 300th Committee, to the Outreach Commission, to our choirs, and to our staff for pulling together an incredible series of events that reflect God's presence and light in our lives. Thanks to all of you who could not share in the weekend, but hold our community in your prayers and offer yourselves in other ways throughout the year.

I'm feeling a sense of afterglow in the very core of my heart. I have a deep and abiding sense of peaceful warmth and exhilaration that come when we are touched by something or someone greater than ourselves. For though I was involved in a lot of the planning and implementation of some of what came together, the sense of community and worship and outright love that seemed to emerge was remarkable and even a little life changing. We are a community who is blessed by God and our consistent response in sharing those blessings fuels this mission that we share. More importantly our response to God's many blessings allows God to work in us and through us in some remarkable ways. I suspect and hope that the afterglow of all that creative energy and ministry will be with our community for years to come.

We know afterglow when something important happens in our lives. It could be a happy family occasion, like a wedding or a birth. It could be a retirement party or a fiftieth anniversary party or a graduation from college. Afterglow touches us when we've walked through a difficult time and made it through to the other side, changed, but still upright. Afterglow marks us and reminds us of the wonder of life and the goodness of God.

I think in some ways that's what the Psalmist was touching on in the 19th Psalm as he writes about the afterglow of creation and all the wonder and beauty that came about when God started creating. The stars and all creation shines with the afterglow of a God, who is so loving, that He would choose to create all that is. The creation speaks to the reality of the love of God day by day and passes along the afterglow to us every time we take note of the wonders of creation at every level.

Let the afterglow touch your heart today and every day. Remember all that God has done and will do in your life and mine, and in the rest of creation. Feel the peace and the exhilaration. Simply enjoy!

 Grace and Peace.