When I first realized that my family’s move would require me to leave Christ Church Cathedral in the middle of Lent, I was both personally and liturgically disappointed.
Personally, I was sorry to miss the Cathedral’s beautiful Holy Week and Easter services by just a few weeks (although I am confident that they will be beautiful in my new parish as well). Liturgically, it felt odd to leave in the middle of a season of preparation. I wished I could see Lent through and then leave in the triumphant glow of Easter.
As Lent began, however, I began to see our move as a Lenten discipline, helping me to enter deeply into this season of self-examination and purification. I shared some of these thoughts in February’s Porous Church article on the Anglican Journal’s website.
On this site, let me also share my deep gratitude to the people of Christ Church Cathedral. It has been a privilege to serve Christ with them in this place and I take with me a treasure house of learning and friendship.
Endings take time
I am in the midst of a move. I’m in the awkward time of needing to work in my office, eat in my kitchen, sleep in my bedroom, play in my living room, but also needing stuff to be in boxes.
I really hate this precise, prolonged moment. I don’t like feeling in transition. I’m OK with ending and I’m OK with starting—it’s the in-between time that is uncomfortable. I am made deeply uneasy by empty shelves and walls, and I am resentful of the unavoidable necessity of a few nights in hotels between the day the movers load up our belongings in Montreal and deliver them to our new home in Ottawa. I don’t want to be in-between. I want to jump from here to there.
So maybe I’m not so good at ending, after all. I want the excitement of new beginnings to help duck the sadness of the endings. I want the resurrection without spending my time in the tomb.
But that’s not how it works.
Read the rest of the article on anglicanjournal.com
Comment(1)
Jim Shepherd says:
February 22, 2016 at 8:23 AMLynn and I are fortunate to have been able to attend last night’s Evensong, specially with the tribute to you, Thomas and Gilbert. While it is with profound sadness you leave, I am sure your new ministry will be welcome.