Not sure what happened

So, all of the posts from Religious Emphasis week vanished. Working on that mystery and will update November Chapels over the coming days...

St. Mary's Community Fund

For our second chapel sponsored by the SMCF, Barbara King director the Exchange Club joined our community. Mrs. King (a mother of two alumnae) spoke about the work of the Exchange Club to interrupt the cycle of abuse in families. She expressed her gratitude for the money given by the SMCF on behalf of the whole St. Mary's community.

This was also the day to kick-off the "Stuff and Name the Turkey" fundraiser. A mock-Glee television show inspired the girls to be a part of this wonderful annual event!

Alumnae Chapel

We welcomed "home" Ellen Clark Moore, class of 1973. After being introduced by her niece, a current Sophomore, Ellen shared the story of her year spent as Maid of Cotton. She highlighted the "glamorous perks" of the job while telling the community about the privilege of traveling all the way around the world. Ultimately, Ellen encouraged her listeners to take risks, even to act on whims, so that they might push themselves to have new adventures.

All Saints Eucharist

The Rev. Mark Rutenbar preached at our second school Eucharist celebrating the feast of All Saints. He asked on the morning after Halloween to consider "life without masks," and particularly to reflect upon who in each of our lives shows us how to live in God's love. Students in every grade then "decorated" the chapel walls with multi-colored post-it notes bearing the names of our saints: past and present. Amid the fluttering colors and these special remembrances, we shared Holy Communion together.

This enriching worship service was made even more beautiful by the offering of music from our Chamber Ensemble - what glorious sounds!

Indian Dance

I can't begin to do justice to watching one of our own fifth graders perform a traditional Indian dance as the first of our Diversity Club sponsored chapels. This is one that you just had to be there for!

Musical Chapel

We were treated to four gifted performances today in chapel. Three of the pieces were played by pairs of sisters no less! The St. Mary's community is blessed to overflowing with talent in all fields. What a treasure to share these talents with our school community.

Materialistic?

This weekend brought the news that the chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary had burned and also a Toy Story movie marathon. These seemingly disparate events offered me the opportunity to reflect on my relationship with things: buildings, toys, gadgets, clothes, and other such stuff. A recent article offered the suggestion that our problem is not our stuff, but that our problem is our appetite for more and more stuff.

What if we took better care of our things? What if we let ourselves love our things, how they shape us and make our lives richer? What if we looked for things we lost, repaired things that are broken instead of just buying a new replacement? What if we honored the God who made this world by taking care of all that we have been given?