Patience
Dear Ones,
This Sunday, your Search Committee Chairs, Duane and David, will be introducing your first step to being involved in the Rector Search process. It’s an exciting time, and I know the team has worked diligently to start preparing for this season of listening and discernment. This will be introduced at all 3 services, and a follow-up letter and email will be forthcoming. So even if you can’t make it this Sunday, no worries, we’ve got your back: we want every voice to be heard fully, and that means YOU!
It can be challenging, when we are in these in-between times, to not ask the perennial question of “are we there yet?!” because we have so much hope and enthusiasm for our parish. We want to get going toward a preferred future that we hold in our hearts. This is the joy and challenge of community since each of us have a slightly different preferred future than the person next to us! But never fear, your Search Committee will be doing the vital work of praying over all that they hear from you, and synthesizing it into a clear message for your next Rector to hear and respond to.
But this middle ground can be a hard place for patience. Waiting is rarely someone’s strong suit (I know it isn’t mine!), and yet it is in holding ourselves to being present to this very moment which can produce meaningful fruit. The middle, the waiting, is a sacred place. It’s where we can rest, ask questions, adjust course, break bread together, laugh and cry and remember together, and then dream big dreams. That is the purpose of Interim time. It is not for hurrying to the next destination, but to learn what the next journey should be, and to enjoy Sabbath rest on the way.
The vision I keep seeing in my prayers is that you’re each hiking a gorgeous, scenic path with good friends…and along the way, you chat about such questions as…
- What style of leader/pastor/partner in the Gospel do we need next?
- How do we want someone to walk with us into the future as who God has called us to be?
- Who might help us to be our most brave, wise, and hopeful selves?
- How do we want to be challenged to come out of our comfort zones and into new heights?
This time of asking those questions is simply brimming with possibility. So, ask all the questions, revel in the rich variety of answers and trust that they will be knit together for the good. Know that God is joyful about the time and attention and love you are offering to this season of discernment.
It is truly a privilege to walk with you in this season of hope, dear ones. Continue.
Fondly,
Mother Erika
