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Rector's Blog
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
This Christmas finds the Phillips family in transitional upheaval: A call to a great parish, a transition out of a great parish -- all in the midst of a world decked red and green but with only a fading memory of what all the caroling is about.
Christmas is the season of the Incarnation. The Eternal Word -- ineffable, transcendent, utterly and completely beyond the reach of human comprehension -- enters human history. What's more, the Eternal Word enters human history the way everyone one enters human history -- hungry and with a shiver.
This is where faith kicks in. Otherwise Christmas becomes utterly absurd.
The Incarnation means that for the Eternal Word to even survive requires a mother to hold him, keep him warm, feed him. It requires a father to at least close the door to keep the cold wind out.
And the shepherds. The shepherds? You want to see who? The angel told you what? Yeah, I guess its okay. . . . Wipe your feet.
And the Kings. The Kings! A star? How long did it take you to get here from the East? Oh, why not. But the camels have to stay outside.
Who but this baby has the authority to bring both shepherd and King together in the same place. And here's the point: the Kings, even with their gold, frankinsence and myrrh, bring nothing to commend themselves to the Eternal Word made Flesh that the shepherds do not also bring.
Kings come with hands full. Shepherds come with hands empty. Kings follow a star. Shepherds respond to angels. Kings come accompanied by a retinue of servants. Shepherds come accompanied by fleas.
Both Shepherd and King come together. And being together they acknowledge and somehow yield to the Eternal Word who has entered human history and bids them come.
Within the challenge of my own transition one thing gives me hope. The babe who calls to me from within St. Tim's, is the one who calls to me from within St. David's. The call is the whimper and the cry of a babe who must be nurtured if he is to grow up in our midst to transform the world.
I leave one parish of shepherds and kings, to join another parish of shepherd and kings -- all of us gather to yield to the Eternal Word Made Flesh.
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Wednesday, December 14, 2005
I have not posted anything for a month. The reason? I have been deep in prayer and lacked. . . what? the energy? the freedom? the courage? the wisdom? to articulate my struggle.
I have accepted a call to St. David's Episcopal Church, in Ashburn, VA.
For the past month I have been working hard to hear God's clear voice -- speaking in the depths of my heart, in the voice of my family, my collegues and staff. I have been trying to get in touch with the deepest longing of my heart, knowing that there I will encounter the longing that rises out of the heart of God. It is not easy.
In the course of my ministry people often ask, "How do you really know what God wants you to do?"
Well, it begins by really wanting to know what God wants you to do.
And then by really believing that God speaks to us.
And then by really having the faith to throw security and comfort to the wind when what God wants requires you to step off a cliff.
And finally -- and this is the only way you really know what God wants you to do -- by really doing it.
Discerning God's guiding hand is not a theoretical exercise. It demands a choice and action.
Okay, so that is why I havn't posted a blog for a while. I have been struggling with the questions:
1. Do I really want to know what God wants me to do?
2. Do I really believe God is speaking?
3. Do I really have the faith to let go of comfort and security?
4. Am I really willing to be God's faithful covenant partner in the transformation of the world by making a real choice, by taking real action?
Argh. Struggle, struggle, struggle.
This is where it gets hard. My choice, my action slams into other people. My choice and action forces change on other people. My choice, my action, my response to God's call will generate a new thing in the world. Ready or not, here God comes.
I take great comfort in this:
God has lifted up faithful leaders at St. Tim's. The parish is deep and strong.
The God who calls me away from St. Tim's is also the God who calls St. Tim's to continue in faithful mission. God continues to bless.
Jesus' promise endures: "Lo, I will be with you always. . . . " "I will never leave you or forsake you. . . ." "Where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there in the midst of
them. . . ."
Do I really want to know God's will?
Do I really believe God is speaking?
Do I really have the faith to abandon the secure and the comfortable?
Am I really willing to take action in the world, to make a choice?
As it turns out, my answer is yes.
What's yours?
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Archive:
12/01/2004 - 12/31/2004
01/01/2005 - 01/31/2005
02/01/2005 - 02/28/2005
03/01/2005 - 03/31/2005
04/01/2005 - 04/30/2005
05/01/2005 - 05/31/2005
06/01/2005 - 06/30/2005
07/01/2005 - 07/31/2005
08/01/2005 - 08/31/2005
09/01/2005 - 09/30/2005
10/01/2005 - 10/31/2005
11/01/2005 - 11/30/2005
12/01/2005 - 12/31/2005
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