Dear friends in Christ, greetings to you and peace. Today I take off for Florence for my sabbatical. There's a timeline in the corner of the Parrish Hall to let you know where I should be if I have successfully kept up with my walking pilgrimage.

This morning's reading from the Second Letter of Paul to the Corinthians did not lessen any of my anxiety about my trip. Paul says that he had been beaten, shipwrecked, faced danger from rivers, robbers, from many people he is encountered; that there was danger for him in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false people, and that he faced many a sleepless night in hunger and thirst in cold exposure, and he was under pressure and suffered anxiety for caring for the church.

Hopefully I will face none of that. I will face the challenge of walking a hilly road with my own thoughts for 25 days. I will not carry too much anxiety for St Francis the church. I know you will love each other and support Caroline and the vestry in doing what is best in doing the will of God. What is best in doing the will of God? It is always to love. If there's not love in it then it's not the will of God. That's my take on our scripture story.