Tonight I was asked to speak to you about my spiritual journey, and you meet me at an interesting point on that road. Yesterday, along with three of my friends and supported by our clergy, family, friends, and fellow parishioners, I was Confirmed in the Episcopal Church. Tonight through our readings we celebrate All Saints Day. And in a little more than two days we as a nation will have elected ourselves new leadership, bestowing great power and responsibility to a few amongst us.

What does it mean to be on a spiritual journey? I'm not sure if I can answer that question for everybody, but I can share a little of what mine has been like. First of all, I know that it's typical here to talk about what St. Thomas' has meant to me, but I'm not sure if I can do that, at least not just yet. What I'd like to talk about, though, is what Christ has meant to mean. Hold on, don't worry, this isn't some evangelical come-to-Christ witnessing. There'll be no altar call. Trust me, I've been there.

A number of Sundays ago, Nancy Lee spoke about her childhood years and putting her money (or sometimes, not putting her money) in the church collection plate. I, too, was trained in that habit growing up. Our church gave contribution envelopes to children as well as adults. And each week when my siblings and I got our allowance from Dad, he would give us a dollar to spend as we wanted, then give us a quarter specifically for our contribution envelopes. This money, he said, is for you to give back to the church.

Hi. I'm Kristin Jones and I've been asked to talk about why I give to St. Thomas'. I found the spiritual journeys of Bishop Dixon and Nancy Lee fascinating and inspiring. They changed my ideas about tithing. However, my story does not include the "T" word. My journey has been more modest.