Reflection from the Journey

The words and images of writer/minister/artist Jan Richardson (https://www.janrichardson.com/) have often sustained, inspired, and challenged me over the years. I turned to her book Circle of Grace: A Book of Blessings for the Seasons as I was seeking some words in this season of Epiphany. I was struck by the opening words in her blessing titled “For Those Who Have Far to Travel.” They echo some of the thoughts I shared last month in this newsletter. Here are the first couple sections.

“If you could see
the journey whole,
you might never
undertake it,
might never dare
the first step
that propels you
from the place
you have known
toward the place
you know not.

Call it
one of the mercies
of the road:
that we see it
only by stages
as it opens
before us,
as it comes into
our keeping
step by
single step.”

When I moved to McPherson, Kansas, to retire from full time ministry I came from a congregational experience of having twenty-three deaths connected with the congregation over the course of three years. That was in addition to all the rest of pastoral ministry that brings joys and challenges. I was going to a congregation where I was one of four pastors on a team for a small congregation. I figured I was retiring into a time of life where I’d preach once a month, play piano for worship once a month, work with the church choir, maybe a few hospital calls from time to time. Not full time ministry by any stretch of the imagination! That’s what I thought was ahead on the path. But within a short time I was propelled into ministry because the other pastors’ spouses were all coping with health issues. The following year there was a kidney transplant surgery and recovery that involved two of the pastoral families (a donor and a recipient). During most of that time, the fourth pastor on our team took extended vacation time with her husband. In both of those seasons of church life, I became the primary giver of pastoral care for the congregation and for the other pastoral families. My vision of what retirement might look like was challenged by what unfolded in the life of our church community. Talk about not “seeing the whole journey!” Jan Richardson’s poetry rings true in my experience.

So here we are in a new phase in my life and a new phase in the life of the Illinois and Wisconsin District. No matter how the path before us unfolds, there likely will be twists and turns, unexpected joys, and perhaps deep sorrows. We may be confronted with new challenges that stretch us to learn and grow in ways that we could not have imagined. But more than anything, if we are paying attention to where God is in the midst of our life together in this season, we will be invited to a deeper examination of who we are in Jesus Christ. And we will be invited to discern what God is calling us to do and who God is calling us to be together. Jan Richardson says it this way later in her same poem:

“You cannot see it all,
cannot divine the way
it will turn and spiral,
cannot perceive how
the road you walk
will lead you finally inside,
through the labyrinth
of your own heart
and belly
and lungs.”

Yes, the Christian walk includes looking inside us. Examining our motives, our intentions, where we need to align ourselves with Christian values. All of that is part of the journey as we seek to be attuned to the Jesus whom we follow. For this interim time, I join you on this journey in seeking God’s call on our lives and seeking to know ourselves better in the context of being beloved children of a loving God. Blessings for the journey!

Connie

Connie R. Burkholder,
Interim District Executive