Taking Time Together
This week I spent time with six of my closest friends and colleagues on retreat. We gather every year to check in on how ministry and life are going. I thought of this recently when speaking to a friend about her lost husband and the time he used to spend away with his friends every winter. I recall seeing him after his retreat and how present and joyful he was. There is something about getting away with people you love and trust to reflect on the things that fill the routine of our lives.
For some reason, I find February to be a wonderful moment in the course of the year when we share a similar post-retreat disposition. The holidays were beautiful and edifying, but also intense and all consuming. January is generally spent putting decorations away and getting our homes and our selves ready for a new year. The Epiphany season in church is geared toward opening our eyes anew to who God is and how God is present to us. And we always finish the month with our Annual Meeting when we reflect on the previous year, celebrate the ministry of graduating vestry members, and elect new members to work with me to lead the parish. As February comes on the heals of this January reset, we tend to have a wealth of celebration and activity in advance of impeding Lent.
Our Food Bowl to raise funds for our Blessings in a Backpack program went overwhelmingly well last night. Our community auction promises to be amazing next week. We will share in celebrations and joy with our scouts, vestry, SREN, Diocesan Council, Evensong, and Shrove Tuesday events and when Ash Wednesday comes at the end of February we will be ready to settle into a reflective and preparatory Lenten season. In the meantime, may God grant us all an awareness of what joy comes when we gather in God’s name.
We love you and God loves you,
Josh Condon+