Dear Ones of St. Columba's, 

This past week the staff and some core St. C’s leaders came together to plan out this next year at St. Columba’s.  One theme that came up was how to emphasize our interconnectedness. Because each thing we do here at St. C’s is connected to the other.  This is what it means to live in community with one another on a deep level.  And, this is just a microcosm of our interconnectedness on a global scale.  The famous phrase, “no man [person] is an island,” has never been more fully understood in real time as it is today in our global world.  We understand on a visible level how the plastic that we put in the ocean impacts each and everyone of us. 

This understanding of internconnectedness can be truly overwhelming.  This knowledge is both beautiful and heartbreaking.  It brings out the best and worst of humanity.  This can cause us to want to shut down and become numb to it all.  But I want us to stay present to it.  A way to help us stay present is to remember God’s call for us to start with the particular and then move to the universal.  Start with the particulars of St. C’s.  How is the ministry you are involved connected to the rest of our community?  How do you impact and bless others through your ministry?  How does loving one member of our church ripple out and impact the overall feeling of love in our community?  How can this micro understanding of our interconnectedness impact how you see yourself taking care of the environment around you and the people that you interact with each day?   Let’s not underestimate all that we have to offer to each other at St. C’s and beyond.  

with gratitude,
Meghan