[Dialogue] Bishop Spong reflects and advises

[chagnon@comcast.net]

Dear Dick Kroeger,
   I did something today that I have not done for a long, long time.  Reading Bishop Spong's personal tale of Judge Merhige's life, I cried.  I cried for the pain we as a country have inflicted.  And I cried with gratitude for the likes of Merhige and Spong.  I also found myself reflecting and crying, again in gratitude and awe, for the gift that the Mathews and Slicker families (I'm embarassed that I do not remember the names of the other families with them) gave us when they moved from Austin to Evanston to the west side of Chicago in mid-century.  By the time I got to the end of your e-mail, I was sobbing.  The more I reflect on my journey--I turned 69 on June 1st--the more I am amazed and grateful for the unlikely events that led me hear a pitch for RS-I at the Franciscan Priory in Rye Beach, NH in the late 60s.  The rest is history.  
   I am so grateful for the wealth that you have been sharing with us over these months.  Although I lived in south Jersey for 23  of the 26+ years that Richard and I have been married, and we raised our adopted twin sons (now 27) there, all I knew about Bishop Spong was that he had been the very very progressive and brave Bishop of Newark and written a few books.  Thank you again and again for sharing the wealth.  Please keep it coming
Lucille Chagnon
on a beautiful warm day in Wilmington, DE