Behold, We Are Doing a New Thing-----Ugh!!
Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert.Isaiah 43:19
For most of my adult life, hearing these words from Isaiah brought excitement to my door. Yippee!!, something new is coming and all the old, dusty, dreary things of the past will finally leave and I can once again enjoy life.
Since the pandemic, I’ve become much less optimistic about “new things”. There’s been way too much changing in my world. Retirement, health issues, pandemic, racial awakening, my pastor leaving. We’re in what Richard Rohr calls Liminal Space. We are in the “between times”. Not a great deal is settled, I feel as if I’m hovering above the ground, yearning for that magic moment when I can plant both my feel on terra firma.
A question that I’ve been asking myself regularly is, “How do I want to be during these times?” What mindset would be best, for me, and for those around me. Doing or being in a new thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I miss the comfort of things being settled, of life moving smoothly, of the world showing some small sign of order. What I am forgetting way too often is that to move from one period of order into a new period of order there MUST be some time of disorder.
At Arlington Community Church, even though so many people are working so very hard to carve some order into our life as a congregation, there is going to be disorder. A pastor leaves, a bridge pastor is hired, a search begins for a settled pastor, one Sunday we worship with masks and hum to the hymns. The next we wear masks and sing. The next we are back to mask-wearing. We are right at the heart of disorder. (think of that last sentence for a moment)
If you’re frustrated, disappointed, weary of just about everything, I hear you. Me, too!! But here’s a thought, perhaps we are indeed on the verge of something new. Or better yet, we can choose to make something new in our life as a community of faith. I promise you, the future will NOT look exactly like the past, but we have the ability to shape that future as a congregation. We have the resources, the talent, the will, and I hope we have the faith that in the not too distant future we will be a thriving church serving people we haven’t met yet, touching lives in compassionate ways, and treasuring each other even more than we already do.
How do You want to be in these disordered times? Impatient or patient? Helpful or obstructive? Grumbly or imaginative? Join me in this ongoing reflection, and then take some positive action that puts feet on your faith. After all, we have each other, we have God, we have Jesus as our guide through this wilderness. We need nothing more.
Rev. Barry Cammer