Transitions

Because this church is such a fun place to be, Jim and I haven’t spent quite as much time at the parsonage (unpacking), as we might have. The few boxes remaining in rooms here and there, and the storeroom begging to be organized, are daily reminders that we are in “transition” – still in a process of fully moving from one place in life to another.

Many of you are in more important, or more challenging, transitions. Some of you are preparing to leave the home where you grew up to receive higher education or begin a career path. Some of you are gathering school supplies for your first day of first grade. Some of you are beginning a new job, or stepping into retirement, or continuing a job search. Some of you are doing some soul-searching, and pondering a kind of transition that is not easy to define.

No matter where we are in our life journey, or how long we have lived where we are located now, we are all in some kind of transition. In fact, as God’s people, we are called to see our lives as much as experiences of transition as experiences of rootedness. We are continually being beckoned to grow, to care about greater circles of human connection, to be ready to move on as we understand that God has new opportunities for us. Thank God, we are not alone in this life of transitions! In Jesus, the Gospel of John tells us, God “set up a tent” (John 1: 14) alongside us, to become a journeyer with us in this life. And true life, we Christians say, is in discovering, day by day, that we can allow our journeys to be journeys of following Christ where we are.

In August, we’ll be conscious of significant transitions in our community of faith. We’ll be praying for young people bound for college or career or service. We’ll be praying for children anticipating their first day of school in a new grade, as we share in a “blessing of the bookbags” in worship August 22. We’ll be looking forward to a fresh year of youth ministries with the Chapel Choir sign-up and barbeque, and a start-of-the-school-year lock-in.

And in August, maybe Jim and I will unpack every remaining box, and fully organize our new home. Or maybe not. But either way, we’ll still be in “transition” – the wondrous, daily transitions of life we share in a community of faith.