Through Stained Glass: Happy New Year!

Friends, Happy New Year! Or, as they say in the homeland, 'haud Hogmanay.' This is the Scottish way of celebrating the end of the old year. 

 We went through a lot this last year. Some bad. Some good. And a lot of in-between. 

We gave up a lot while embracing new ways of being in ministry together. 

Some of us are looking forward to the clock striking 12:00 am, while others know the grief, sadness, and hurts from this last year will still be there. 

Some of us are optimistic about 2021, and others are skeptical. 

Some of us have resolutions for this next season in life, while others resolve not to resolute...or are still working on some from last year. 

Some of us...

You get the picture. 

Wherever you fall on the spectrum of feelings for 2021, know that you aren't alone. If you are celebrating, I join you in your elations! If you are grieving, I sit with you in your lamentations. If you are tired, unable to feel either happy or sad, I'm with you. 

I guess what I'm attempting to say is what I've been saying all year--we are all experiencing this differently. And however you are feeling right now, it is okay! What matters is that you are honest with yourself and that you remain gentle attending to your spirit. Remember--you are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who prays for you always. 

As I prepare to cross the threshold of this year to the next, I'm mindful of this poem by Rilke:

And now we welcome the New Year. Full of things that have never been.

Looking back, I'm proud of us. We have adapted to the many changes in our lives. Some were smooth, and others, well, they were definitely learning experiences. If I have learned one thing about us this last year, we are a resilient people. Our resiliency, of course, comes from our deep faith in God and in each other. I gleaned a deeper insight into the Ubuntu philosophy, which is, "I am, because you are!" It has been a joy and a privilege to watch you all rally around each other and live into the call to be Christ's body to one another. As we've said from the beginning, the church has never been closed! We've been sent out to care for each other.

Finally, friends, I'm hopeful. Most of 2020 had us reading from the Hebrew Bible--specifically the stories in Genesis and Exodus. Reading and studying these chapters with you during this pandemic has deepened my faith. As God promised to be with Abraham, as God covenanted with the Hebrew people in the exodus, and as Christ promised the disciples never to leave them--so the Triune God makes those promises with us. We are traveling this wilderness season together--and with God. It is by God's mercy and love we have made it to this point, and it'll be God's mercy and love that will take us to the promised land. 

To you, church, I say Happy New Year! To you, beloved saints of the Living God, I say thank you. To you, fellow ministers of the Gospel, I say God loves you, this church loves you, and this pastor loves you deeply! 

Below are photos I've gathered from many of you as we prepare for the Incarnation. I say prepare because we are still preparing--making way for Love to dwell in our midst. I encourage you to remain watchful, keep praying, continue to check in on one another, and as one of you have told me from the onset of this pandemic--keep the faith. Together, with God's help, we will see the Glory of God in the year to come.