Fall is finally here… well, sort of.
While we are still waiting for the weather to finally break, the leaves are trying to begin their change and all of you are learning what I have known for most of my adult life: dressing in layers is key. When you live through at least three seasons in one day, adaptability is the name of the game.
That is true in life, too. Whether we are facing a pandemic or not, hurricane season or football season, a new school year or a new career – the future is always a bit uncertain. We can never truly know what is coming. And frankly it would be rather boring if we did.
The world is constantly and consistently changing around us. In ways we have seen and in ways that we have not. Ever evolving. Ever growing. Ever shifting. Ever moving. That is a very good thing, because if something is not moving it is dying. Perhaps very slowly, but stagnation leads down that road nonetheless.
The God of all creation, the one who made the world, whose Spirit breathes all around us, causing all the wonders that we see, the life that is teaming through every fiber of this vast and awesome cosmos, also made us. And made us to move. Made us to shift. To grow. To evolve. To change. Not to sit still. Not to stagnate. Not to die until it is our time. For while death may be a part of life (all things have an end, save God), we are not meant to stay in that end.
We are meant to live. To savor every drop of life. To step into the future with courage, even if fear is coursing through our veins at the same time.
And the greatest assets we can have as we do: adaptability and humor. Being ready for whatever may come with an open mind and heart. And being ready to find a way to see the glint in God’s eye even in the most shadow-filled moments. Those two things will keep you going, even when all seems lost or when the road gets so much longer than you ever imagined.
So, I do not know precisely what the future holds for all of us, but I do know this – God goes with us. Before us and behind us. Above us and below us. Inside us and all around us. God is here. God is present working as a ferment in our church, bringing new life in our midst even now. In our music and worship. In our children and teaching. In our committees and work. In our conversation and prayer. In all that we do – God is here. And we are very much alive.
Whatever this road ahead may bring, we will face it together: with courage, with adaptability, and with humor.
Blessings, Pastor Janie
First Welcoming All 