April, 2012
As I write this on Monday, March 19, I realize that we are moving quickly toward important transitions in our common life. Our dear friend and priest Susan Barnes will complete her work with us on Sunday, April 15. She will celebrate and preach at the 8:00AM and 10:30AM service and we will say final goodbyes in a reception in Huffman Hall following the 10:30AM service. In the letter I wrote you when Susan announced her planned departure, I shared with you my deep and abiding appreciation and respect for Susan. I – we - have been abundantly blessed and bettered by her presence. Godspeed, Susan. We will certainly do well in the future but we will not be the same without you.
In the summer, Dave Bowman will officially retire and we will be searching for a new Business Manager. We are currently connecting Dave to parishioners to “download” key information, practices and the arcane knowledge that goes along with such a catch-all job. Dave has been “backbone” for our staff and we will miss him when the time comes.
Such it is with life. Transitions. And these can be sad or painful. Holy Week is the time of ultimate transition in the life of Jesus. He asked and answered an ultimate question. Is “life” important enough to die for? Jesus had a powerful vision for human life – a vision that he called the Kingdom of God. In this Kingdom all are respected, the poor are honored and peace flows like a river, a consequence of loving and obeying God. For the Kingdom to take shape in Jesus’ time, powerful Jewish leaders would have had to share their wealth and opportunity. The Roman military occupiers of Israel would have had to repent of their tyrannous methods. This was an unsettling, unthinkable transition in the lives of “important” people. Rather than dealing with them using their means of power, Jesus submitted to a mock trial and a humiliating death. His humility and innocence made a mockery of Jewish leaders and Roman military corruption and collusion. His death was unjust and made a mockery of justice. The resurrection was a sign of God’s power to respond ultimately and finally – not by destroying the world or its leaders but by declaring universal forgiveness to all who come to him in faith. God’s ways are not our ways. But thanks be to God, our “transitions” – sin and death, loss and grief, are in God’s hands. Happy Easter!
Much love, Merrill