TRINITY VI

Oh, would some Power the gift give us,
To see ourselves as others see us!
It would from many a blunder free us,
And foolish notion:

     ------ from Robert Burns' poem "To A Louse," translated from the original Scots dialect

There is an interesting phenomenon that has been playing out on the internet for the last few weeks. Foreign visitors on their first trip to the United States have been posting their reactions to their experiences since their arrival, and certain things seem to have surprised a great many of them.

Some of the things most often mentioned are the size of restaurant portions, the relatively low prices for most commodities, the quality of American food, the fact that most Americans are proud of our country and that one sees American flags (or representations of it) on lapel pins, auto bumper stickers, homes, businesses, and so many other places, the wide variety of consumer choices in our stores, and, above all, the relaxed friendliness and kindness of Americans to strangers. Many of their reactions are genuinely funny, particularly when they taste some common American dish and love it, and I started watching these videos just for the sheer entertainment value, but gradually another theme emerged in quite a number of the longer videos.

Over and over again these first time visitors to the U.S. said, “We have been lied to.” Their picture of the United States was of a country racked by violence, torn apart by class and race hatred, with a filthy, crumbling infrastructure and on the verge of economic collapse inhabited by selfish, greedy, paranoid bigots. Why? Because that is the picture of America that news outlets have shown them for decades. Many of the visitors admitted that they had been more than a little frightened to come here and that friends and family members had expressed their own fears for them. Some even recorded apologies for having believed what their own experiences here had shown them was not just a caricature but an outright pack of lies. I have heard three or four times what has apparently become a new saying among them: “If you want to hate America, watch the news; if you want to love America, drive across it.”

I now realize that watching these videos has given me an even lower opinion of our news outlets than I have already had for years. We have also been lied to about our own country. Most of our news outlets are far less interested in giving us information than they are in inciting fear and hatred. That's what sells.

We are a nation of more than 340 million people, but any sufficiently horrible thing that happens anywhere in the country will immediately be thrown into all our faces. If nothing sufficiently horrible can be found to grab headlines and be the lead story on television news broadcasts, some “expert” will be found to predict some looming catastrophe that we should all fear and to tell us whom we should blame for it.

There are certainly things worth being prudently cautious about and people who wish to do us harm, but to focus so passionately and unceasingly on those things and those people can blind us to all the good around us and all the blessings that we enjoy. Worse still, irrational fear and unjustified hatred can eat away at our very souls.

Our faith, our trust in God, teaches us to be unafraid in this life and to try to be at peace with all people. Given the fallenness of human nature, that will not always be possible. There is danger in the world, and there is evil in the world, but there are also beauty and meaning and honor and good in it as well. I earnestly hope that none of us will be so blinded by the lies about our country that we fail to appreciate the lives that we live and the many examples of courtesy and kindness we meet with every day.

Now before I end this there is one more thing that I noticed, sadly, about those videos. In the Sherlock Holmes story “Silver Blaze” Inspector Gregory asks Holmes, “ Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?” Holmes replies, "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.” The baffled Gregory responds, “The dog did nothing in the night-time.” “That,” Holmes pronounces “was the curious incident.” Sometimes the absence of something is in itself worthy of note, and there is a very striking absence in all of these videos. I saw not a single picture of the interior of a church. Stadiums, restaurants, museums, parks, office buildings, stores of many kinds, but no churches. Make of that what you will.

 -- Father Bragg +

Ye shall not appear before the Lord empty; every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee.

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Services & Events

Sunday, 9:00 AM and 11:15 AM services, for online participation go to
https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Nursery during both services

Sunday School, on recess for the summer, returns in September

Wednesday at Noon – Holy Communion and anointing for healing, for online participation go to https://www.facebook.com/saintsofscotland or to 
https://www.youtube.com/@StAndrewandStMargaret/streams

Wednesday, 7:30 to 9:00 PM in the church undercroft,  Fr. Bragg will offer a relaxed, informal course of Wednesday evening classes on the Hymnal that will run through August 26.  Each meeting will be a stand-alone session on specific hymns, focusing on the circumstances of their writing as well as their theological and devotional content.  Every hymn has a story behind it, and many of them are fascinating. (Online participation possible by using links above.)

Saturday, July 25, Saint James, 12 noon service
 
Thursday, August 6, Transfiguration,  12 noon service

Monday, August 24, Saint Bartholomew, 12 noon & 700 PM Services

Saturday, August 29, 12:00 - 2:00 p.m. in the undercroft. Women's brunch honoring the MaRiH Crisis Pregnancy Center: Enjoy some end-of-summer fun and fellowship while helping local women and their babies. Please bring an item from MaRiH Center's critical needs list. Brunch is potluck; please consider bringing a dish to share. RSVP to margot.anderson@proton.me. 
 
Save the date, Sunday, Sept 20, Annual Parish Picnic, following combined 10:00 AM service. More information to follow as the date draws near and plan to invite family and friends.
.MaRiH Crisis Pregnancy Center: Updated Critical Needs
& More

Below are 2 updated lists: the critical needs list and the needs list:

Critical Needs:
Diapers, sizes 5 and 6
Spring/Summer clothing (Boys & Girls), size 0-3 months, size 2T 
Baby Wipes
Baby Blankets
Baby formula: Similac Advance Formula
Bibs: toddler
Car seat: infant
Other needs:
Diapers, newborn, 1, 2, 3, 4
Spring/Summer Clothing, 3-6 month, 9-12 month, 18-24 month, 
Bibs, infant
Maternity clothes (Spring/Summer)
Wash cloths
Hooded towels
Diaper rash ointment, Baby Shampoo
Baby bottles
Baby formula: All other Similac & Enfamil types. Also accept Alimentum & Nutramigen. No other brands are accepted. Please make sure dates have not expired.
There are two options for helping the Center with these needs:
Option 1 
Amazon has all the specific items needed. You can order the specific item(s) and have them delivered directly to the Center.  

The MaRiH Center
3230B Duke Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-4521
703-370-4774

Option 2 
Go to your local store, purchase the items requested and drop them off at church on Sunday. We will deliver them to the MaRIH Center .
 
Food Bank Needs
 
The food bank continues to need our assistance to feed the hungry. Summer often means less food donations are given.

Please help this month with a food donation if you are able. Those we help feed are very thankful for the food we provide to them each month. Please also buy low sugar cereals (and not the kid's types that have lots of sugar). Also lower sodium products are better and more healthy.

Current needs include the following:
canned meats (chicken, corned beef, spam)
tuna (cans or foil packages)
peanut butter. jelly
canned vegetables (corn, green beans - (regular and low sodium)
individual fruit cups (low sugar)
canned fruit (low sugar)
canola or vegetable oil (48 oz)
boxed cereal (low sugar) and instant or old fashioned oatmeal (18 oz or 42 oz)
pasta (regular and gluten-free):
instant potatoes
single serving fruit juice
macaroni & cheese
soups: Chunky or Progresso, chicken noodle soup; chicken broth, cream of mushroom. tomato
coffee, cooking oil, flour, sugar
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Our mailing address is:
St. Andrew & St. Margaret of Scotland
1607 Dewitt Avenue
Alexandria, VA 22301-1625