Six Degrees of Separation or Less....

I suppose everyone knows the six degrees of separation business. In the last few days I have been in conversations about people where connecting the dots from them to me was more or less easy.

Fidel Castro gave up as the Leader of all things Cuban. I never met him. But I did meet Chairman Yasser Arafat who knew Fidel Castro. That took only two.

I've never met Barak Obama but I've met Joe Biden who knows him. Two.

I feel like I know the Archbishop of Canterbury but have never met him. But I have met the Archbishop of York, Ian Douglas, most bishops and Primates, and his predecessor and a whole host of other folks who have met him. One and a half.

I've never met Bob Dylan, but I've spent time with Ramblin' Jack Eilliot who did. Two.

On the other hand, I have direct immediate contact with at least one of the leaders of the Episcopal Church who is a lay person, under twenty and who puts up with me anyway: Ian Miller is a member of the Episcopal Youth Event Design Team.

He is pictured here with all the other members of the Team putting together this year's EYE event. Episopal Life online ran a story on the planning for this event with the picture. I have circled the famous Ian himself.

Ian is a member of St. Peter's Church, Lewes. He and I have been together on several mission trips, including one to Puerto Rico this last summer.

When at home he is a regular acolyte at the 8 AM service on Sundays, active in the Youth Group, a high school student and occasional dish washer at The Buttery (a first class resturant in town), plays drums in the WAM (worship with alternative music) band at Church, and zips around town on a skateboard. He is part of what makes St. Peter's the wonderful place it is.

Good to see his mug online! I'm prouder than can be imagined to be not even a full degree of separation away.