When the national Executive Council met last month in Miami [TLC, March 3], it was refreshing to hear Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning speak not on the issues which divide so much of the church, but rather how the grace of God has made an impact on his life in recent weeks.

Looking rested and relaxed following a difficult travel schedule over the past few months, Bishop Browning shared examples of grace, particularly on trips outside the U.S. The Presiding Bishop spoke of "glimpses, more than glimpses, of God's grace," even in the embezzlement in the treasurer's office. In December, he visited the dioceses of Colombia and Honduras. In January, he went to Burma and Taiwan. Bishop Browning told a story of his meeting with Roman Catholic Archbishop Oscar Rodriguez in Honduras. At the conclusion of that meeting, the archbishop asked Bishop Browning for his blessing, and the Presiding Bishop, in turn, asked for a blessing from the archbishop. In the Anglican Province of Burma, Bishop Browning visited Nobel Peace Prize winner Aiung San Suu Kyi, who had just been released from house arrest, yet shared that a Christian has no one to fear but God alone.

The Presiding Bishop also spoke of encounters of grace "in the ordinary," at the church center, on a diocesan visit, in the House of Bishops.

"Over these last months, I have seen the wounded Christ in distant lands and close to home in the dioceses of our church," he said. "I have also glimpsed and felt and touched and seen and known our risen Lord and shared in the victory that belongs to all of us."

There are signs of God's grace all around us. The encounters shared by the Presiding Bishop are typical of those found in all of our lives. Let us rejoice and give thanks for them.