Stories

Stories...ours, our family's, God's. Stories that connect us to each other and to deeper meanings, but sometimes that just help us claim a bit more of ourselves, stories that help us understand and remember better who we are.

Recently I was traumatized, and I really mean that, by events occuring at the church where I worked. I was stunned, shocked, saddened, and bewildered by the choices the pastor was making and the willingness of others to follow blindly. As a staff member, it was a dicey walk with no one really to talk to. The pastor's actions were causing me to fear my own journey towards ordination. If this was what would happen, I wanted none of it.

In God's infinite love, my husband had had a brief business encounter with a retired Anglican priest. Out of his love for me, he called her and asked if we could stop by and just chat for a bit. She opened her home and her heart to us that evening and we spent an amazing hour in the presence of the Spirit and a gifted pastor. One of the most powerful statements she kept repeating to me was 'remember who you are.' Yes, remember who I am; a beloved child of God, a unique creation with her own gifts and calling, a disciple willing to follow.

I was reminded yesterday of my time with the priest as well as my first encounter with another amazing woman of God. Ten years ago I met an Adrian Dominican nun who would impact my life in ways I could never begin to imagine then. But at our first meeting, she reminded me to 'choose life.' Yes, "this day I set before you life and death, choose life" (Deut 30:19). I wasn't sure how to choose life that day, but with her help and the Spirit, I think I learned over time. The challenge is to always keep that choice as part of the decision; which action, which choice will lead to life in the Spirit?

What prompted these stories to flood my brain yesterday? The new pastor had reviewed my Learning/Serving Covenant and had an amazing suggestion: what about a piece on self care? Again, what do I make of a pastor who considers self care (and prayer) part of the necessities of life? Hmmmm! His suggestion led me back to consider a covenant that will remember, and honor, who I am as well as help me to choose life each and every day. How to write that in terms of goals and objectives became a delicious task for the afternoon.

Now I simply need the Spirit to keep me on the track of remembering, choosing....living fully.