In a recent column in his diocesan newspaper, Church Times, the Rt. Rev. Gethin B. Hughes, Bishop of San Diego, told some wonderful tales of travels in his diocese. A few of the incidents are worth sharing:

"I was flying back to San Diego after a conference and throughout the trip the flight attendant kept glancing at my collar and smiling," Bishop Hughes wrote. "I was trying hard to think where I might have met her before. Was she a member of one of our congregations or had I perhaps confirmed her? She was standing behind me as we waited to exit the aircraft when she asked, 'I love your ring. What high school did you go to?'

"I gave a presentation to the junior grades at All Saints' Parish Day School during which I explained the significance of my cope, my mitre and my pastoral staff. Subsequently, a fourth grader sent me a note which read, 'Thank you for coming to our Chapel and showing us your stuff. It was neat! Now I know what a crook looks like.'

"My wonderful secretary, Bobbi Hoff, tells of the time when her son, Matthew, was little and was asked by a friend, 'What is a bishop?' His reply was, 'He's the guy who wears a purple shirt and works for my mom'."

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In his Easter Day sermon, the Rev. J. Donald Waring, rector of St. Thomas' Church, Temple Terrace, Ohio, told this tale first shared by Bishop Robert Shahan of Arizona. The bishop tells of a priest in his diocese who, as he was about to begin his sermon one Sunday, looked at the congregation and something caught his eye. He said he saw two large angels, clothed in white, floating above the balcony. For fear that listeners would think he was losing his mind, he looked away and stumbled through the sermon. The next time he looked up, "whatever apparition it was that he saw was gone." He needed a vacation, he concluded.

At the end of the service, the priest greeted people at the door, and came to an elderly woman at the end of the line. "You seemed a bit distracted today during your sermon," she said. The priest said it was nothing.

The woman leaned closer and said, "You saw them too, didn't you?"

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The Rev. Arthur Robertshaw, of Madison, Conn., sent a clipping from an advertisement in the Boston Globe placed by the Boston Church of the New Jerusalem (Swedenborgian). It promotes the Sunday service: "Earth Day: Blessing of the Animals," April 22. "You are invited to bring a photo of your pet or favorite animal," the ad states. "No live animals, please, as much as we would like to have them."

Fr. Robertshaw wonders whether this might be a virtual blessing of animals or a blessing of virtual animals.

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If you cringed a bit when you saw a quote by the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan, Bishop of Pittsburgh, in our April 15 issue, some clarification may be in order. "Only God could redeem such a place," Bishop Duncan said at the dedication of Trinity Church, Washington, Pa. The bishop referred not to the church itself, but to the location of the new church, which was once the site of the city gallows where men were executed.

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Recent license-plate spottings: EXALT HM, GOD KN DO, W8NG 4 JC and DEITY. TLC staffer Pat Nakamura saw GODGAVE and GDBLSD, Alan Dann, of Brattleboro, Vt., spotted IMORTL, Marshall Pepper, of Pewaukee, Wis., observed GD LVS US and GODBWYU, and the Rev. Enrico and Edith Gnasso saw GLETOGOD in California.

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Note to Jane, somewhere in Metro Dallas-Fort Worth: The Rt. Rev. John Howe who died recently is not the Bishop of Central Florida. This fellow was English and is a former executive officer of the Anglican Communion.

David Kalvelage, executive editor