new year – Southwest Conference Blog

A Reflection for the New Year

by Rev. Deborah Beloved Church

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

(Ecclesiastes 3:1; King James Version)

Familiar words to many (thanks in no small part to the Byrds! For the full Biblical version, click here: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, KJV), and words that seem fitting for this time of bidding farewell to 2023 and bidding welcome to 2024.

As we reflect on the year that has come to a close, and take our first steps into yet another “new” one, perhaps it might be helpful to remember:

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

As we remember the ups and the downs of the year that has ended–the pleasant and the unpleasant, the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly, and everything in-between, let us not feel drawn to claim only the “ups”–the pleasant, the good, and the beautiful (and hope for more of all of that in the coming year); and judge or feel shame or want to hide or deny the “downs”–what feels unpleasant, bad, and ugly (and long for less of all of that in the year that’s just begun). Rather, let us remember:

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

May we acknowledge and hold with tenderness the times of grief and sadness, as we also give thanks for those of joy and delight…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

May we acknowledge and hold with kindness the reality of our exhaustion, as we also give thanks for momentary surges of energy…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

May we acknowledge and hold with gentleness the expressions of heartache and anger, as we also give thanks for manifestations of compassion and generosity…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

May we acknowledge and hold with grace the moments of anxiety and fear, as well as those of trust and abiding love…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

May we hold space for it all, with tenderness and kindness, with gentleness and grace–for ourselves, for our loved ones, for our neighbors, and even for those we consider our enemies. May we hold space for it all, with vulnerability and with courage, recognizing that, indeed…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

And as we hold space or it all, may we also recognize those seasons that have nourished us, and those that have depleted us. May we see those experiences that have caused our souls to wither and shrivel, and those that have caused our hearts to blossom and expand. May we acknowledge those occasions that have led us to shake our fist at God and rage against the universe, and weep and wail and withdraw, as well as those in which we have found ourselves engaging and rejoicing and giving thanks at the beauty and wonder of it all…

“To every thing there is a season,

and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”

As we reflect on the year that has come to a close, and take our first steps into yet another “new” one, perhaps it might be helpful to not only remember that, but also to remember…

As people of faith we claim and proclaim

that in every season and in every time,

God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth

God, Creator of all that is

God, who was and is and is to come

God, who took on flesh and walked among us as Jesus of Nazareth

God, who dwells in all persons as the Holy Spirit

God, Emmanuel…

is with us!

Now and forever and always.

Thanks be to God!

And Happy New Year!

A New Year’s Haiku

by Rev. Deb Worley

“For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord,
plans for your welfare and not for harm,
to give you a future with hope.”
(Jeremiah 29:11)

Most of you do not know this about me (although it won’t surprise you!), but every year for the past, maybe, twenty- (?) years, I have written a Christmas letter. And this is no ordinary Christmas letter. For most of those years, it has been a rhyming Christmas letter. And sometimes, even set to a tune (one year, for example, I wrote our family’s version of “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music! Yes, really…). I strive to make it informative, yes, but more than that, I try to make it fun to read. I do not, typically–and this is the part that really won’t surprise you–try to make it brief!!

This year, as the Christmas season was approaching, a friend suggested, somewhat in jest (but not, I suspect, entirely!), that I try to write a Christmas haiku. You know–the Japanese form of poetry that consists of three lines, with five and seven and five syllables, respectively.

After I stopped laughing hysterically at the thought of summarizing this year in only seventeen syllables, I decided to try it! I came up with several options, but this was the winner:

Challenges abound…
Seeming insurmountable…
Breathe. This, too, shall pass.

As you might expect, it has been quite an exercise for me, using such a short form of poetry to express emotion and capture meaning. But it has been, in fact, quite a thought-provoking exercise…and I’ve expanded it beyond “just” my Christmas letter.

I also decided to try to compose one as a New Year’s “offering,” a haiku prayer of sorts. While I was standing in line at the post office today, I actually came up with two. And I share them with you here, for whatever they may be worth:

Breathe. You can trust me.
I am doing a new thing…
Come be part of it….

and

This year is ending.
New life and change are coming.
Breathe. Trust. Watch. Hope. Breathe…

There seems to be a bit of a theme, in all three of those last haikus. I suppose it’s something I, at least, need to hear and be reminded of. And that is to “Breathe.”

To breathe in God’s peace and breathe out anxiety. To breathe in God’s presence and breathe out isolation. To breathe in God’s hope and breathe out despair. To breathe in God’s love and breathe out fear.

As this crazy year comes to end, dear friends, breathe…As a new year begins, breathe… As we move from one day to the next, one month to the next, one year to the next, not knowing what is in store, good or bad, comfortable or uncomfortable, desired or not, breathe…and trust…and watch…and hope…and breathe.

Happy New Year, and God’s peace be with us all.

Deb

You Don’t Need Fixing!

by Amanda Petersen

A joyous New Year to all of you!!

I have had the pleasure of having a couple of groups with the purpose of looking how to be intentional with the New Year. Both were different and yet the same elements appeared.

Looking at what is important in one’s life.
Looking at topics like core values, gratitude, lessons learned etc.
Doing something that gets one to notice those elements in their life.

Life evaluations can be seen as finding what is wrong and fixing it. Yet with the majority of people I journey with it is more a time of affirming and deepening the elements that enhance their lives. The gift of doing something intentional around noticing the elements of one’s life is that it affirms one is living a life.

Now that may sound obvious, but is it? Sometimes the externals of life seem to take over and one day just blends into the next. Taking time to remember what is important and then stepping back and seeing how one is folding that into the dailyness of life does something to reassure the soul all is well. Occasionally one may find there are important elements that are being left out and times of evaluation allow the person to fold them back in again. That is not fixing what is wrong as much as giving a life affirming yes to what is right.

Isn’t this the contemplative life? Taking the time to lovingly looking at life with truth and grace? Choosing to participate in the abundance of Love? Being conscious of the choices one makes?

If you haven’t yet stopped and contemplated your life as you get out the new calendar, I highly encourage you to do so. Gina’s Personal Mission Workshop or Quiet Spaces on the 8th are a great opportunities to do just that.

Share your favorite way to notice your life as you begin the New Year.

Whatever the future holds, may you always know you are held in Love.

Minor Course Corrections

by Karen Richter

Good morning and happy new year, Southwest Conference friends. Here’s your obligatory New Year blog post. ☺

If you’re passionate (as I am) about the liturgical year, that’s your cue to say, “But wait! The new liturgical year started several weeks ago with the first week of Advent!” Yes, yes it did. I’m not interested in a tired tirade about prioritizing the liturgical year over the secular year. Instead I’m thinking: isn’t it wonderful how our post-modern lives give us so many opportunities for pause and reflection? There’s January, of course. There’s Advent, with its beginning in hopeful anticipation. There’s (for academic types and parents of school-aged children) the school year, with its flurry of supply purchases and new schedules.

And there’s the new beginning of weekly Sabbath and the new beginning of each sunrise. Finally, there’s the new beginning of forgiveness and reconciliation always available to us.

I need every single one of these prompts to begin anew.

So it’s not a bad thing, in this first week of January 2017, when the world is starting fresh along with us, to anticipate and resolve some changes or minor course corrections.

Not diet and exercise. Not writing a book. Not saving money. Not even going to church more often. Again, not interested. We don’t need to squander this beautiful opportunity for newness by simply striving and grasping at becoming better, shinier versions of ourselves. So just cut that out. You are enough. You are loved just as you are.

So I offer here my minor course corrections, not as a stick with which to beat myself up when I fall short, but as a shared guidepost of encouragement:

Do more hard things.
I was just reading this morning about how pushing our limits can protect against the ravages of mental aging. Not just devilishly difficult Sudoku, but really taking on something that is difficult enough to be mentally tiring. Do something that excites you but isn’t easy. Do something at which you might fail spectacularly and publicly.

I’m not sure what this will be for me: more writing perhaps or a new skill.
Rest and celebrate.
Doesn’t it seem strange that we have to remind ourselves to rest? BUT WE DO. Especially perhaps in these trying times of division, global violence, and increasing inequality, it’s hard to pause to rest. Our culture encourages overwork and busy-ness with prevalent figures of speech like ‘putting everything out on the field.’

Two thoughts on this: First, I think our willingness to rest is related to our satisfaction with our work. Hence, ‘rest and celebrate’ is tied to ‘do more hard things.’ Second, our reluctance to stop is a symptom of our collective egos out of control. Our work does not keep the world spinning. I had lunch this week with a friend, a Franciscan friar. He reminded me, “We are not called to save the world. The world already has a Savior in Christ. Instead we are called to work.” We can rest and renew more fully (and thereby work more fruitfully) when we see our work with God’s eyes.
Get real and vulnerable with myself and with trusted companions.
This wouldn’t be a churchy blog worth the name if I didn’t tell you to pray more in 2017 (oops – these are supposed to be MY 2017 course corrections… so I am going to pray more in 2017). Find anything that works for you. I’m a big fan of silence in the car during my commute: no radio, no Sirius, no audiobooks. Walking the dog. Mindful breathing. Journaling. Make any of these into your prayer practice.

We’re not meant to journey alone. I couldn’t have a New Year blog without also suggesting that you find spiritual companionship. Whether it’s a traditional spiritual director, a small group, or an accountability partner, articulating to another person where you are and what’s going on in your spirit will bring you greater insight and tremendous comfort. Check Teresa Blythe’s Patheos blog Spiritual Direction 101 or poke around on Spiritual Directors International.

Whatever you do or don’t do in 2017, know that you are loved. Through God’s grace, may we move together more fully into holiness and wholeness.

Getting a Handle on Life

by Amanda Peterson

I purchased a card once that had a man sitting in the middle of the desert, looking disheveled, holding a handle in his hand, and the caption read, “I used to have a handle on life but then it fell off”. With the beginning of the New Year there can be this sense that if the handle fell off in 2015, now in 2016 it might attach again. Yet what we find happening at the end of year just moves with us into the New Year. There is a sense if only one could find the right device, the handle on life would be securely in place, and whatever happens there is a means to manage it, understand it, and have some control in it. A means to ride the tiger in a sense, without getting thrown off and eaten.

The handle is a very important part of life. Often the emphasis is on what the handle connects to. The situation or person that needs to be opened or changed or moved. How does one move this stone? How does one get a handle on an overwhelming issue? How can someone feel life is manageable and not just a series of uncontrollable events? How does one put a handle on fear?

What if, rather than a way of controlling and managing life, the handle is what connects us to ALL the energy of life. What if the handle is God? Looking at it as how one chooses to hold on to God as a way of getting a hold of the person or situation. That makes whatever is on the other side of the handle less influential than the means of connecting to it. The question becomes less about how does one roll away the stone and more about how does one’s faith and relationship with God connect to this stone? The handle is how one connects God to the situations in life.

Over the next few weeks, we will look at these questions as a way to begin 2016, using these questions as a way to engage our faith life rather than make life manageable. May God be your connection to all this New Year brings!!

Perspective for the New Year

by Amos Smith

“What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” – James 4:14

In this New Year I am reminded of life’s brevity. I am reminded of the preciousness of each day, week and month. It is a privilege to be alive—to be among the living. As the New Year approaches, I think about beloved members of my congregation and friends who have died: Roma McKibbin, who died on August 10th of this year; Marshallese Pastor Wendell Langrine, who died on July 26th; and Kristy Urias, who died on February 4th.

The chart above puts life in perspective for me. It makes me realize that this coming year is precious. What can we do with these twelve months that are before us? How can we make a difference? How can we use our gifts to make a contribution to our faith community, to our wider community, and to our world?

Life is an ongoing multi-generational poem, and each of us contributes a verse.