Tapestry

Qualifications of a pastor:

the mind of a scholar,

the heart of a child,

and the hide of a rhinoceros.

--Stuart Briscoe [1]

I’m going to tell you something not too many people know: I have danced at church. In fact, I have danced at a few churches. You see, I am a dancer—trained in ballet for most of my life—but only those who have seen one of my few praise dance opportunities have seen me dance liturgically. Many of my friends have not. As we are all aware (dancers especially), dancing is a sticky subject amongst the people of God.

Growing up in a small town in the deep South, racisim was not a word I knew or a concept I often thought about, but rather it was like the water I swam around in.  Most of the time I could go about my swimming without noticing it or realizing it was there, but every now and then someone would make a splash and I would see it in all its ugliness as it attempted to drown me and everyone else in it.

Well, I’ve been reading my Book of Common Prayer, the official prayer book of the Anglican Church, and I came to the Great Litany. I thought that I would share it with you. In the midst of all the chaos and business that we will encounter today, let us keep our eyes on Christ and run the race that is before us with perseverance and endurance.

Yesterday I received an email from a former seminary student of mine who told me his 29-year-old wife considers the past twelve months her hardest yet. Why?

Ethos is the ministry environment you create. What impacts ethos? Many factors—for example, the depth of the leader’s relationship with God; their spiritual, emotional, and mental health; their view of themselves and others; their view of their role as leader; their comfort empowering others; and, if the team is mixed-gender, their view of the other sex.

I can't remember where I first stumbled upon this prayer and am unsure of its origin, but its been great reminder for me throughout the years so I thought I would share it with you today. May we all dream big this year! 

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

The last day of this year, poised in just a few hours to usher out the Old and welcome in the New, gives opportunity to reflect over the last 365 days. Some words that come to mind are: remember, regret, rejoice, reflect and resolve.

Remember all the parts of your journey this last year- the most difficult, the most treasured, the losses, the gains, lessons learned, lessons you wished you had learned, triumphs, sadnesses, the people, the circumstances, the opportunities taken, the ones missed.