Coming home whirling like a dervish after the amazing community experience at The New Community of The Episcopal Church Conference and my presentation on dinner church as an experience of community and communion, followed by The Wild Goose Festival planning retreat, I am reminded of the power of community and the sacredness of forgiveness and humility in moving towards radical justice and love. What a deep and challenging Lenten pilgrimage this would be to join the forgiveness challenge. Injustice happens in personal and cultural ways, communally and individually, and forgiveness is both the hardest commodity to come by and the most essential to true healing, transformation and reconciliation. So good to spend time in community at #newcommunity with new and old colleagues and friends, so good to see you all in living color, in every way imaginable [and meet many for the first time!]: Tom Brackett, Mike Angell, Daniel G. Ledo, Holly Roach, Marlene Helgemo, Lewis Powell, Gay Clark Jennings, Elsie Dennis, Sarah Eagle Heart, Isaiah Brokenleg, Melissa Chapman Skinner, Natalie Blasco Cintron, Cathlena Plummer, Monica Whitaker, Lelanda Lee, Jamie Osborne, Angeline Cabanban, and so many others who I got to meet for a few moments here and there. The whole experience was so enlivening, rejuvinating and also in equal measure, at times, grieving and raw. It was the manifestation of Gods kingdom on earth--everyone equal and everyone loved. It made me ever-more hopeful for the future of Church, and ever-more welcomed into the Body of faith. It touched on the places in my soul that the mind often forgets; those tender spaces where radical love grows. And I challenge myself to join the Forgiveness challenge with Bishop Desmond Tutu. What better way to enter into deeper Lenten reflection.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 16:35:08 +0000