Let us pray on this holy day (this coming Sunday) as we end the Easter Season and celebrate the Holy Spirit and the Birthday of the Church!
Today does not look like other Pentecosts for many of us. Wherever we are celebrating this Pentecost, we know you are with us, Holy One. We ask that you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us like that first Pentecost. Revive us as we are so weary. Inspire us so we may live out our faith in new ways. Strengthen us for the coming days. God, we celebrate today as the birthday of your church. Whether we gather as your church virtually or physically, we are your church. Remind us today that we are your beloved children who you have called to do your work in this your world. We have heard your call and answered with the help of the Holy Spirit. Revive us. Inspire us. Strengthen us. Amen.
This tea is part of an awesomely beautiful and tasty tea gift set I was given by a dear friend.
The Honey Lapsang is described as “Organic Black Tea with Cinnamon, Cocoa, Licorice, and Lapsang”. It is delicious. I would describe it as a smooth black tea which leaves you with a good smokey taste on your tongue. I have been enjoying this fun tea to start my mornings this week. And I am enjoying the other teas in this gift set too.
When I left St. Giles Presbyterian Church over 5.5 years ago, I sorted through seven years of ministry in one place and narrowed it down to a few boxes of paper and many boxes of books. I am focusing today on the paper and not how many books I still have…although truth be told the number has decreased significantly. In the one of the boxes of files, I found calendars from each year I served a church. These calendars are made by the denomination and leave more room on Sundays as that is the busy day of the week in the church.
I took the calendars out of the box and sorted through the papers first. Most of the paper is being recycled as it is no longer something I need. The calendars stayed in their pile. Should I keep them? Why should I keep them? I opened the first one from 2004, and I was not prepared for the flood of emotions that came to me. I read of meetings with people I have not seen in years. I saw notes about preaching dates and education opportunities. I saw the way I used to write the letter R in the corner as a reminder for the weeks my then boyfriend was working. I saw notes about plays and sporting events and parties I attended for the youth who were a major part of my ministry. As I turned the pages, I got married, moved to a new state and church, bought a house, said good-bye to my best friend, watched my husband graduate, said good-bye to family members while welcoming others to the family. So many memories in these pages.
And then I was even more torn. Now that I know what is in those pages, do I keep them? Or is this blog post enough of a memory? Or better still should I hold on to the memories in my heart that have dulled the hurts over time and brightened the good moments?
Writing this has given me the courage to say good-bye to these calendars. I am thankful for these years of ministry and all that I experienced. I am thankful for the mentors and the supportive ones who guided me. I am working on being thankful for those who challenged me and made my work harder than it needed to be. I am thankful for the children and youth who are no longer children and youth and love hearing about the amazing adults they are. I am thankful for all those who volunteered countless hours to ensure each person who came through the doors knew they were loved. I am thankful for the ways I was welcomed into homes and lives of so many faithful people. And I ask forgiveness for the mistakes I made and the hurts I caused. My prayer is that all whose names are listed in those calendars and all who ministered along side me will know God’s peace and love today.
I shared this reflection with staff and volunteers from Coastal Hospice last week.
As we begin, I invite you to grab a pen and paper if you are somewhere safe to write things down. If you are driving, please be careful and do not attempt to write anything down when we reach this part of our time together. Our lives have been turned inside out and upside down this year. What once was routine or normal is now no longer the way it is done. I do not need to tell you any of this as you are living it. And yet, sometimes it is helpful to say out loud what is happening in our lives. “Comfort, O comfort my people, says your God” Isaiah 40:1. What brings you comfort in these challenging times? Before you leap to answer that question, let me share a definition of comfort which is “a pleasant feeling of being relaxed and free from pain.” Now, I invite you to make a list for yourself of what brings you comfort. We’ll have a time of silence as we write our list. (Silence). I shared that I find comfort in a hot cup of tea. I take the mug in both hands and bring it close to my face. I feel the warmth and smells calm me.
I hope you will take the time to do that which comforts you in the coming days, and maybe share your list with others so together we can comfort each other. Please reach out to others when what has always been comforting is no longer working for you. Let us pray- Loving God, Comfort us! Hear us! Continue to love us! We need you today! We need each other today! Bless the work that we do and give us the strength to carry on. Amen.
This cup makes me smile each time I read the words, “She listened to her soul.”
