Dear Ones of St. Columba's,

This year as a community we are focusing on Christian Practice, specifically the practices of The Way of Love - an particularly Episcopalian way of thinking about the practice of our faith. There are seven practices in this Way, all designed to help us think deeply about our faith as a way of living, and to shape our lives to be centered more and more on Jesus. 

The first one is Turn - Pause, Listen, and Choose to follow Jesus. Last week we got to witness the blessing of the marriage of two of our community members, Mike and Amanda. One of the aspects of marriage that I mentioned in my sermon is the opportunity that it provides to choose God, and each other, every day. This is part of what it means for us as individuals to practice Turn - that in some way we find time each day or week to stop for a moment and choose to be Christian, choose faith, choose love, choose God. That practice might be an intentional reflection, it might be a choice to ask forgiveness or invest in relationship in a new way, or it might be something else you do that helps you stop, listen, and choose God.

I wonder what it might mean to Turn as community? 

One thing it might mean is that we become a place where all are invited to turn toward God. Some of us need to be loved into that reminder through relationships, worship, challenging learning, or opportunities to serve. Others, particularly our more vulnerable neighbors, need basic things like shelter, food, and human hospitality before they can make the space to pause and listen. 

Another way we turn, together, is by being a community that stands for something different in a world that is full of unjust systems. 

A couple of Wednesdays ago I was at my desk, working on something, and I stopped for a moment to listen. I heard the sounds of Jackson, Mother Meghan's baby boy, screeching happily from a bouncy chair in her office, where he has often played next to her while she works these first few months of his life. I heard Elaine, our Children, youth, and family minister, working in the Family Room to get ready for fall, while talking to her one year old son who had come to work with her. I realized, in that moment of pausing and listening, that I work for an organization that employs mothers, and welcomes flexible work arrangements so that these mothers (myself included) can excel both in vocations here at St. Columba's and in our vocations to parent our children well. This is not how most workplaces function - and it is exactly the sort of turning together that we can model for our world, as a Christian faith community. I was proud, and am proud, of how this community of faith loves moms and kids - not only in who we welcome into membership and worship, but in who we hire, who we listen to, and who we ask to lead us.

It made me wonder - what are other ways we can turn toward justice, equality, healing and hope?

Let's explore and let's keep turning, together.

with care and gratitude,

Alissa