If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. ~Meister Ecka
Friends, These past two weeks at Holy Family have been filled with signs of hope, enthusiasm, and teamwork among so many of you. Thank you!
Our Stewardship Kickoff celebration, the glorious Rutter Requiem on Friday, and the services on Sundays are all outward and visible signs of a vibrant community and remarkable energy. And, I have met several new visitors to our parish, including a former member of the Cathedral who now lives in Big Canoe and will be joining Holy Family. We have now gone “live” with our search, thanks to the tireless efforts of our nominating committee, led by Martha and Steve! Thank you!
This week we will enjoy our monthly Wednesday healing service, and on Friday a contingent of us will journey to Holy Innocents parish for Diocesan Council. This parish is deeply important to me, as it was where I began my journey into the Episcopal Church as a 16-year-old soon-to-be lapsed Presbyterian! On Saturday the 16th we will host a Men’s Retreat, and I hope some of you can join us to discuss the epidemic of loneliness, and how fellowship among men can have practical applications for wholeness in mind, body, and spirit. Please keep in mind our Stewardship drive as we move toward the Advent season, and pick up a Holy Family polo shirt, sweatshirt, or hat as we seek to spread the good news about our beloved parish! A deep bow of gratitude to each of you for your good and faithful ministries among us.
Donald Winnicott, one among my mentors in clinical work, once said that he knew his patients were getting better when they recovered or discovered their capacity for imagination. Let’s continue to imagine the future and hope together, shall we?
And Gabriel Marcel, a theologian and philosopher whose work I have long admired, suggests that “creative fidelity” involves giving a part of ourselves to others, which we do by sharing love and friendship, as well as through the creative, performing, and fine arts. Creative fidelity binds us to others (religio…to bind together) recognizing the subjectivity of others…their sacred individuality, while expressing our own. Creative fidelity is the tenacious, constant desire to elaborate who we are—to have a greater sense of being, we need creative fidelity. We become creatively faithful when we bridge the gap between ourselves and others when we make ourselves present to them.
One of the most famous biblical passages is 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13. In what some authors call a Christian hymn, Paul emphasizes that those at Corinth should seek agape love. He contrasts the value of spiritual gifts, acts of compassion such as donating to the poor, and even martyrdom with agape love. Paul’s clear message is that the members of the community must not simply love each other in the way of philia, but in the way of agape.
Likewise, hope guarantees fidelity and loving kindness by defeating despair—it gives us the strength to continually create—but it is not the same as optimism. Hope is not passive; it is not resignation or acceptance. Instead, “Hope consists in asserting that there is at the heart of being, beyond all data, beyond all inventories and all calculations, a mysterious principle which is in connivance with me.”
This implies that hope is an active, hopeful compassion, not a surrender, not only for us, but for and on behalf of others. For Marcel, genuine hope means we cannot depend completely upon ourselves—it derives from humility, not pride. It depends on communities like our own Holy Family.
This photo was taken on our recent trip to Europe, with twin grandchildren Alice and Jack in the foreground. As Victor Hugo said:
“To love or have loved, that is enough. There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”~ Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
I am grateful for the love we share at Holy Family, and for the ability to dream for the future!
Let’s continue to imagine the future and hope together, shall we? I’ll catch you later down the trail, and I hope to see you in church!
Bill+