Dear Scot and Emma,

Scot, thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with us through your blog. I have enjoyed reading your blog over the past year or so. I would enjoy meeting you in person someday.

I’ve never met Brian personally, but the description that Scot provides of him is one that I have often heard from friends who have met him or know him. Character and presence do count for a lot.

Emma, I can’t tell where you are on your journey from Scot’s letter, but I can imagine that maybe it has been long and confusing. Take heart. There are many who are embarking on the same journey and struggling with similar questions that seem to have no clear answers. Who do you trust? Who do you listen to? How do you make sense of it all?

All I can say is be still and listen and don’t be afraid to take risks and ask questions. I took a risk about a year or so ago and started volunteering at the Missionaries of Charity over in Pacifica. I was struggling with what to do with some of the ideas I was struggling with when a friend ask me to join him in volunteering. It was a life changing experience to spend some time with “orthodox” Catholic nuns who have devoted their lives to loving God and loving the sick, destitute, and dying. I like to think the experience moved me towards my own generous orthodoxy and to a much greater appreciation of a tradition that is very different than mine.

After thinking about this letter a little, I thought I would try and add a little context to GO and Scot’s reflection. I had lunch with a friend down in Santa Clara today near the statue that Brian mentions in his book. I stopped by the statue on my way back and took a few minutes to reflect on the song of Mary. I took a few pictures while I was there so you can get an idea about what Brian was talking about. You can see them below.

I think it is a shame that we don’t talk about Mary much in evangelical circles. Whenever I think about the time my wife and I have volunteered with the MC’s I can’t help but to remember the prayers the sisters would say honoring Mary as the mother of Jesus on the bus rides here and there.