On the Threshold of Something New

There only a few hours left.  Soon the days of 2021 will be all used up.  Time moves on.  We will soon turn the calendar page and reach the end.  It will be time for something new--a new calendar.  

For many years a good friend gave us a Japan Airlines calendar.  My friend died this year.  The space will hold a new, smaller calendar in 2022.  I still miss my friend.  Indeed, time moves on.

In the midst of some melancholy moments, I look forward today.  It is obvious that many of you are looking forward to tomorrow, to a new beginning in a new year.  This year, 2021, has been full of great challenges and some deep disappointments.  We had hoped it might have been different.  

Today, I am wishing a Happy New Year to everyone I meet.  But, that greeting is a wish, empty without action.  We stand at the threshold of something new.  We are offered the gift of more time.  If there is to be anything new and joyous about 2022, it will require that we are ready to embrace God's newness, to love in deed as well as in word, and to work hard for justice--"A Just World for All."

For too long we have been passive in our wishing and in our praying.  Tomorrow will not be different and the new will soon fade, if we do not apply ourselves in new ways.  When I turn the page and put away the old calendar, I will pledge to work for those causes and candidates that make the common good a priority.  I will pledge to work to strengthen my community and be a peacemaker to help to heal the world's brokenness.  I will pledge to respect everyone--even those with whom I strongly disagree.  I will offer my efforts, while there is yet time, to build others up with grace and by speaking the truth.

So, as we turn the page and hang an new calendar, as we step over the threshold into something new, there are these questions:  What do you pledge to do to embrace the newness?  How will you seek to live while there is yet time?  What is your vision for 2022 . . . and beyond?  

Happy New Year, my friends!

Happy New Year!  

A Crisis of Cooperation and Leadership

Earlier this week the news of a resignation was shared in our community.  Angie Hittson, Director of the Franklin County Health Department resigned to take another position with an area hospital.  Hittson had been with the local health department for fourteen years and had hoped to remain in the position until she retired.  From all indications she had run her department well and done an exceptional job through some very challenging times.  But Director Hittson is reported to have faced "daily verbal assaults, threats of violence and even death threats."  In resigning, she joined twelve others who left similar positions in our state since the pandemic began in 2020. 

Since Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green ruled that local health departments were given too much authority in issuing health orders in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, politicians have moved in to fill the void.  To be sure, most of these leaders are not health care experts and epidemiologists,  In fact, they have often pitted themselves against the scientific community and helped to disseminate misinformation about the disease.  Rather than using their office to model cooperation and respect, their words and actions have added to the confusion that many feel.  Real leadership has been lacking.

Consider the recent responses of Franklin County's Presiding Commissioner, Tim Brinker.  All along Brinker has not wavered from the position of his party.   Choosing to be responsible for the common good has been resisted.  In responding to the threats that Hittson and others in her department faced, Commissioner Brinker referenced fear as the precipitating factor that drives people to speak and act in hateful, even violent ways.  Maybe.  But fear is no excuse for lashing out and harming others.   

In another news story the Presiding Commissioner indicated that he is planning to "apply pressure" to health professionals so that they promote a "healthy lifestyle."  Seriously?  Mr. Brinker wants individuals to make up their own minds about whether or not to receive the vaccines for COVID without governmental interference.  He offers a broader perspective.  To quote Brinker, "You know, there's no promotion of getting a healthy lifestyle, losing weight, being fit and eating right and getting enough sleep."  Such statements shift the focus and minimize the crisis we still face--ultimately a crisis of cooperation and leadership.

We could have done more to keep our community safe.  It starts at the top.  We can and must do better. 

Finding My Way

It's been well over two years since my last post.  So much has happened in the ensuing months--a serious health crisis, a global pandemic, too many deaths, and too much political rancor ripping apart people who once were close.  (At least, we were close enough to converse and to care for one another whether we agreed or not.)   As a wise woman once said of a difficult period in the life of her church, "It was not a happy time."  The past twenty-four months have not been a happy time for many of us.

It will soon be three weeks since my retirement from active ministry.  I left St. Peter's United Church of Christ at the end of last month and am now seeking a new path for my life.  The thirty-nine years since my ordination were blessed.  I've had the privilege and joy of serving in five settings of the church in those years.  The memories of people--good people in every place--dwell deep in my heart.  I remember with great gratitude how it felt to be a pastor and teacher and the many people, both inside and outside the church, who were my mentors and partners in ministry.

Now I am faced with the challenge of finding my way without a robe and stole, without a pulpit, without another Council or committee meeting.  Who will I become?  What will I do with this phase of my life?  It's far too soon to tell.  The anxiety to rush to secure myself in the "next thing" is a temptation to be avoided.  

In recent days, I've traveled to visit with friends and to rekindle relationships that were shelved because of the demands of ministry--many of which were self-imposed.  I am glad for time to reacquaint myself with these friends and connect with them anew.  I'm occasionally having coffee conversations with colleagues on Zoom.  I'm raking the leaves which descend at different times and are always blowing from neighbor to neighbor, an endless task.  I'm preparing for winter, a fallow season of discernment.  I'm sitting by the fire in the evenings with a good book and a glass of wine.

Now that I have the time, I will be active again in posting these reflections.  Thank you for reading and joining me on the journey.  May God bless you . . . and us all . . . as we find our way.

 

At the End of the Day:  A scene from my travels to Starkenburg, MO