Bishop weary

Last Sunday I hosted a bishop at St. James. Very pleasant, but a bishop, none the less.

Today I spent 3 hours with a bishop and will again tomorrow hosting one at St. Andrew's.

Bishops are all well and good and a vital part of Episcopal polity.

And they are exhausting.

They remind me, in spite of my day to day experience as a priest, that I do have a 'boss'.

I told my cousin on the phone the other night that, "I've never had a boss."

Most of the time that's true. But being around bishops reminds me it's not true, really.

I try to stay out of their way. I like it when I have the illusion that there's no bishop around.

But being with them--whew! Really hard work.

I've served under nine bishops, all told. And I've liked them all--more or less. But I prefer the illusion that they're in some office somewhere and I'm on my own.

I'll be really bishop weary after tomorrow.

Bishops are like vacation spots--a nice place to visit but you wouldn't want to live there.