As Eastertide continues and we work our way to Pentecost Sunday, what stands out to you?
Have you spent time outside the empty tomb?
Have you walked away from the room that is locked with fear and guilt?
Have you heard Jesus’s invitation to experience life beyond what has been?
Have had taken a moment to release the anxiety of “what is next?”
and settle into what is?
As we continue to discern, struggle, invite resurrection, and rediscover who we are, I offer this excerpt from the pen of my friend and colleague, Britney Winn Lee:
“We open ourselves, when we’re ready,
to the truer truth. The truest truth.
And that is this.
Smaller ships turn faster.
Death is just the beginning.
Scarcity is a distraction.
Abundance is absolute.
Shalom is our inheritance.
The arc is justice-pointed.
In tension is creativity.
In desperation lies a new paradigm.
Out of labor comes new life.
More has been done with less.
The next right thing is enough.
All that we need is here.
Something new is stirring.
Something new is waiting.
Something new is gestating.
And God needs not for us to wear ourselves thin
bailing water from sinking boats all because we do
not trust ourselves as swimmers.
Let sodden boards warp, and we may find ourselves
walking atop waves with Jesus.
The truest truth is that God’s kingdom is not in trouble.
The truest truth is that our calling has not changed.
The truest truth is that we are a part of living history.
The truest truth is that in the economy of the Spirit,
where the last are first, the poor are rich, the
least are greatest, and the weak are strong,
we are in good company here in the flood lands,
planting seeds that the rains may indeed wash away.
Something will take.
Something will grow.
Something is taking! Something is growing!
Watch closely, for when the dust settles,
we’ll learn that the work didn’t stop.
We’ll learn that we didn’t stop!”
May we each invite "the truest truth" of God’s love to be resurrected within each of us!
Pastor Jo
April 23, 2024
