Barbara and I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of good wishes and love and friendship this last Sunday, June 16. We have loved you all and known that you loved us, but the party and all the cards and the gifts were very precious to us.
There us a phrase in the marriage ceremony, at the end of the prayers for the new couple, which seems exactly to get at the feeling we have at this moment:
Grant that the bonds of our common humanity, by which all
your children are united one to another, and the living to the
dead, may be so transformed by your grace, that your will may
be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That is what we feel. The bonds of our common humanity have been transformed by God’s grace, so that we are joined together, more than just friends–brothers and sisters in Christ. And so it will ever be.
Thanks for a lovely day. You will all continue in our prayers.