“God makes us ask ourselves questions most often when God intends to resolve them. God gives us needs that God alone can satisfy and awakens capacities that God means to fulfill. Any perplexity is liable to be a spiritual gestation, leading to a new birth….”
This quote is from the journal of Thomas Merton in May of 1949. (A Year With Thomas Merton, Daily Meditations From His Journals. J. Montaldo) It was part of the closing sermon at the Bishop’s Convocation from which I have just returned. It captured my attention completely, because it feels as if we are entering another time of discernment here at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. Our renovation is coming into its final stages and we are agreeing to meet together around our passion for ministry and our vision for the future. What is our call to ministry going to look like in the coming year or years? How far are we willing to plan for growth and new ministry?
I catch my breath when I ask those questions, fully aware that such conversation has not always been possible here. But when I look at the decisions which were made at our Annual Meeting, my heart rises in hope. It may sound patronizing when I say I was so proud of you at that meeting. Your hope for the future, your care for your tradition, and your willingness to engage faithfully with each other were signs of health and strength in this fellowship. They have not always been so strong. So it is with eagerness I look to wrestling with our call to the future. Let us continue to be strong, to be passionate, to be deeply engaged in prayer for God’s guidance in this time of gestation leading to new birth.
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