through the looking glass
Well, we have nearly come full circle in our first year together. It has been good for me to become acquainted with you. I am still learning names and more importantly learning the stories behind the names or, in other words, getting to know you. Already we have been to New Orleans together twice. We have weathered a brutal winter. We have celebrated the holy days of our holidays. We have tried some new things and kept some things we are used to doing.
I am grateful for the support I have received from the staff here at Holy Trinity. Without Ruthann, Lisa and Charles and Nancy I would have had a very difficult year but they have all made it easier for me to find my way. I am glad that I was able to have this year with Charles and Nancy who will be leaving the staff this summer to pursue other things. They are both generous and gifted and kind persons whose absence will be a great challenge for us in the new year that is coming. We wish them every blessing and rejoice that we will see them again.
I am grateful also for all those leaders who have served so faithfully in these transition years that are not easy for anyone. We have carried on. We have accomplished many things. We have some important challenges before us not the least of which is a solid base of financial support that will free us to focus on doing all the good we can. We will seek to follow the three simple rules of Wesley: Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God. We will discern together what our vision is in these days and what will our priorities be. Even now we are in the process of selecting new leaders for another year so that we go forward in strength and in peace.
We have celebrated many baptisms this year. This is a beautiful sign of hope for any church. Holy Communion has brought us together and heartens us for the journey. We are blessed with a congregation that spans the generations enriching us all. We have much to be and to do together, much to become, to increase, to deepen who we are, to seek and to find, to be open to each new day, to find happiness in this life with Christ in community.
In June we will honor our friends, Charles and Nancy for their gifts to us. We will celebrate our reconciling ministries. The Annual Conference gathers again and life goes on. Who knows what these days will bring. What I do know is that, by the grace of God, we are alive today and share a great calling to be the church of Jesus Christ in the world and together we will go where love takes us remembering, perhaps, the profound words of Eeyore, himself, who said: A little Consideration, a little Thought for Others, makes all the difference (or something like that.)
