{"id":2823,"date":"2025-10-23T15:54:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/?p=2823"},"modified":"2025-10-23T15:54:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T15:54:25","slug":"friday-letter-october-10-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/?p=2823","title":{"rendered":"Friday Letter – October 10, 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dear Friends in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we returned to 1020 W Lincoln Road from three weeks of vacation, it seemed as though I had been away forever.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jim, Matthew, Ellie, Eric and I spent time in very green spaces: the Columbia River Gorge, the Umpqua Valley (with Jim and Matthew) and Santa Cruz and the Point Lobos State Park (with Ellie and Eric).  There was a lot of hiking to waterfalls (pictures attached).  In the eighteenth century, William Wordsworth remembered hikes he had taken into the Welsh hills in his poem, Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey, On Revisiting the Banks of the Wye during a Tour. July 13, 1798<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I hear<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These waters, rolling from their mountain-springs<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a soft inland murmur.\u2014Once again<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do I behold these steep and lofty cliffs,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That on a wild secluded scene impress<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thoughts of more deep seclusion; and connect<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The landscape with the quiet of the sky.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Soon, very soon it all came back to me \u2013 the work, the joys, and ultimate concerns – that make up my days here.  This too was Wordsworth experience.  In the same poem he writes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014feelings too<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of unremembered pleasure: such, perhaps,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As have no slight or trivial influence<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On that best portion of a good man’s life,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His little, nameless, unremembered, acts<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of kindness and of love. Nor less, I trust,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To them I may have owed another gift,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of aspect more sublime; that blessed mood,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In which the burthen of the mystery,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In which the heavy and the weary weight<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all this unintelligible world,<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is lightened:\u2014<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here at Zion and St Anne\u2019s we attend to each other and acknowledge the presence of God in our lives.  Wordsworth uses the word sublime <\/em><\/strong>rather than the word God <\/em><\/strong>and probably means something a little different than what we mean.  Nevertheless, the goodness of our lives together is anchored in God\u2019s presence in the world around us, God\u2019s love for us and our love for each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Faithfully yours,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rebecca<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dear Friends in Christ, When we returned to 1020 W Lincoln Road from three weeks of vacation, it seemed as though I had been away forever.   Jim, Matthew, Ellie, Eric and I spent time in very green spaces: the Columbia River Gorge, the Umpqua Valley (with Jim and Matthew) and Santa Cruz and the Point […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2840,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2823\/revisions\/2840"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannestocktonchurch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}