Prove the world wrong.
Dear friends and members of St. Matt’s,
I’ve just returned from a few days at Clergy Conference in Mystic, CT. It’s always a gift to be with my colleagues, to spend time renewing our relationships and to learn together about this vocation that we love. More than any other time in recent memory, we had conversations this year about how hard it is to do this work in the world that we live in. Not just that it’s hard personally on us, but that it’s hard on everyone. Some of that is because of the culture change post-COVID, the shortness of everyone’s temper, the timber of their impatience in their voices, the pressure of busy-ness and the need to make up for lost time. Some of it is because, as ever, the world is a bit of a mess. And that’s me just naming a few things – I imagine you could come up with your own list about everything that’s changed and everything that feels more difficult than it did four years ago. I often think that speaking peace, proclaiming good news in this season, in this world – well, it feels a lot like yelling into the wind.
And yet – this has been the challenge of Jesus’ disciples for generations. The world of the disciples was no more receptive than ours – no more hopeful – no more neat – no more kind. And then, as now, there are many who are searching for the Truth, for fulfillment, for community, for connection. Even if we wouldn’t all use the same words to describe what that means. And our task hasn’t changed: to love in word and deed, to offer hope, to show compassion, to be kind, and in living this way to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ – to prove the world wrong – as the Gospel said last week – to show forth the truth that the Kingdom has already come near.
I see you all do that all the time in this community and beyond. And I’m grateful for our witness. As the end of this program year comes, as we look to hire a few new positions, I’m thinking a lot about this and about what God might be asking us to do and to be in the next season. I’d love to talk with you about this. Even if you haven’t been here in a long time. Or if we just talked last week. Send me a note and let’s set up a time to get together, find some coffee, daydream together. God is good. And we have work to do. And I love doing that work with you.
I wish all of you who are traveling this weekend safe travels and a restful long weekend. And I look forward to seeing the rest of you on Sunday morning!
Faithfully,
–Marissa +