Beloved friends-

Some weeks in ministry, as in life, are just harder than others; this was one of the hard ones. Earlier this week we learned that our beloved curate, Megan Allen made the decision to resign from what we had hoped would be a three-year tenure with us. Megan began in July and during her first six months grafted her way into our common life with ease and grace. And while we remain supportive of the courageous choice she made, we are also left to grieve this loss and look for a new beginning, again.

The words I use in the title of this blog help remind me our tradition teaches us the ancient and generative promise that how we pray shapes what we believe, and vice versa; what we believe shapes how we pray. And so, we do both with intention entrusting the source of Love to do the heavy lifting when our arms are too tired to lift them on our own. Our stories in scripture elevate the promise of transformation and new life at the end of every road; hope when we are lost; courage when we are scared; strength when we are weak and weary.

So, at the end of this hard week, I pray we all can rest into a moment of Sabbath trusting that with every ending God plants the seed of a new beginning. And as we begin the last leg of our Advent journey, perhaps now more than ever, may we with joy anticipate the coming of the One who makes all things new.

May you never forget that you are loved,
Lisa

Help Me to Believe in Beginnings (by Ted Loder)

God of history and of my heart,
so much has happened to me during these whirlwind days:
I’ve known death and birth; I’ve been brave and scared;
I’ve hurt, I’ve helped; I’ve been honest, I’ve lied;
I’ve destroyed, I’ve created; I’ve been with people, I’ve been lonely;
I’ve been loyal, I’ve betrayed; I’ve decided, I’ve waffled;
I’ve laughed and I’ve cried.
You know my frail heart and my frayed history – and now another day begins.

O God, help me to believe in beginnings
and in my beginning again,
no matter how often I’ve failed before.

Help me to make beginnings:
to begin going out of my weary mind
into fresh dreams, daring to make my own bold tracks
in the land of now;
to begin forgiving that I may experience mercy;
to begin questioning the unquestionable that I may know truth
to begin disciplining that I may create beauty;
to begin sacrificing that I may make peace;
to begin loving that I may realize joy.

Help me to be a beginning to others,
to be a singer to the songless,
a storyteller to the aimless,
a befriender of the friendless;
to become a beginning of hope for the despairing,
of assurance for the doubting,
of reconciliation for the divided;
to become a beginning of freedom for the oppressed,
of comfort for the sorrowing,
of friendship for the forgotten;
to become a beginning of beauty for the forlorn,
of sweetness for the soured,
of gentleness for the angry,
of wholeness for the broken,
of peace for the frightened and violent of the earth.

Help me to believe in beginnings,
to make a beginning,
to be a beginning,
so that I may not just grow old,
but grow new
each day of this wild, amazing life
you call me to live
with the passion of Jesus Christ.

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