Monday, October 2, 2006

Dear God,

For the first time I turned the corner and saw the other side. What a lovely view. An exciting adventure awaits us. I came to the realization that our church has turned its corner. We have sojourned for a long time, not certain that we would not finish the journey at a dead end. But what I saw and felt today filled me with hope and anticipation!

And so I began making plans. Like when you decide you really are going to take that vacation. I wrote a memo to my competent, giving, loving staff. I told them we had turned a corner and we were looking into the sunrise. We have work to do, I said in the memo, and we have to be prepared to help lead the way, God as our guide.

I believe this was the first day in my career at Bethel that I felt like our body was ready to move somewhere together, only a couple or so tagalongs in the rear. A man who was very vocal about me leaving the church during our conflict told me today, "You really are my pastor and I love you." He said in front of his family.

What were the signs? Smiles on the faces of the people Sunday morning. New visitors coming weekly. Others wanting to join our church. Leaders willing to adjust and change to lead the congregation. Members of the flock in prayer and filled with joy. Positive spirit. More than 190 in worship the last three Sundays. Financial giving up. Boy scouts wanting to join the girl scouts and brownies in our building. Non-member folk giving sizeable gifts to the church for renovation and upgrading the music ministry. Fantastic committed staff who give their time, energy, hard work and financial gifts to the church. Task forces hard at work to make recommendations of ministry to our neighbors. Different color faces in worship. Home to the Hispanic congregation. Some members returning to the fold and happy about it. We laugh together. No more hidden agenda.

Perhaps I am the most excited because my own spiritual life coincides. We've been tracking together, running parallel. Converging with my renewal our path is one. We'll journey together toward our own promised land recognizing and acknowledging that God is the One providing the light that shines on the path leading us. And we are walking into the light. There is no doubt about it.

I can remember the darkness and the light in our life of faith. My, how the light was but a flicker but it was always shining. Oh yes, we have some bruised heads and knees from stumbling in the dark, falling to the ground. I have several of those myself. But we stood back up, brushed ourselves off and started again. And yes, there were nurses, caregivers who attended to our wounds, applying healing ointment and bandages. They were there to remove the bandages when we no longer needed them. They rejoiced in our healing. And our news turned good.

There really are no moments when God is gone. It may feel that way, but in reality God has no desire to walk away. God knows we are like self-centered young children, adolescents trying to figure out what's happening in our own bodies, young marrieds wondering where all the change came from in our partner, and mid-career people who want something different. And God has weathered it all, expecting these crazy moments, knowing full well that when the time was right we would look for home and be content to take God's suggestions for change.

It is a new day, like I told my staff, and God is in it, so in the middle of it.

Turn us around,
twirl us so that we lose our equilibrium,
and then stop us
so we will take a new look at where we are.
The journey is like that sometimes.
We become complacent in our faith
in our dreams and our visions.
We forget the power that created the universe
and us in it.
We settle for less,
so very less.
We become whiny,
wanting our own way,
then disappointed
and ticked off
when we don't get what we want.
That's because we lost our way,
stopped looking for the laserbeam
that so carefully points us
in the right direction.
But the joy that comes
when we assess our situation,
make some adjustments
and recomit to the pilgrim journey
is one of awesome satisfaction.
Jubilation!
Thanksgiving!

Love always, Andrea