THE PRICE OF HOPE AND FAITH

Mr. Robin has been missing for a few days.  I had seen him flitting around with bits of food in his beak preparing to take it into the nest.  I decided to investigate.  There was no Mrs. Robin; there were no eggs; the nest was trashed.  The softer compact bottom layer was dislodged and askew and it was all dangling precariously in the Japanese Holly bush.  Gone. No more.

Where will they go?  Will they build again?  Will they find a more suitable location?  Having been so devastated for all her efforts, will she just give up?  Will she try again this season?  Will she return next season?  Or will she just give up and go away and never try again?

I can relate to Mrs. Robin.  My church nest has been taken away.  I face many of the same questions.  There are several options for me.  A couple are close to home, others not too far from home.  I don't think I'm ready to visit another place of worship yet.  I'm a little scared.  I need a respite.  I'm thinking God will wait with me through this interim period until I am ready.  There is always hope.

CLOSED. FINISHED. DONE.

GRACE EPISCOPAL CHURCH - NORWALK, CT.

 The doors are closed.  The congregation dispersed. Grace Church is dissolved. No more.  I left behind those doors the hurts and heartbreak and frustrations of the closing; the strife; the nasty.  No more. Gone. Left behind.

I brought with me all the love in the world.  I brought with me years of sharing stories.  I brought with me a sense of what community can be.  I brought with me the knowledge that wherever I go I have gifts to offer a new community.  I know how to share my story; I know how to listen with an open heart and without judgement; I have learned that scripture is to be savored and enjoyed and that it can be interpreted differently with each encounter; I am beginning to learn how to turn the negative into the positive.  This last from our Lent Workshop.  We could have used more time to continue.  It was not to be.

A lot of things were not to be.  That's okay.  We can each take them away with us and continue in our new church homes.  There are more opportunities.  We have earned hope.