Father Gerry's Blog

 

As I have posted on social media: “I am back”!

I have so much to share. I would love to tell you about my three month Sabbatical.  I have enjoyed and been blessed by this time. Thank you.  I missed you all, but shortly into the Sabbatical I discovered how much I needed the time.

I have traveled almost 9,000 miles this summer by car, train, and ship.  I have studied, played (yes, a zip-line over 700 feet!), prayed and stood in awe at the base of a glacier. I have read more “fun” books over these three months than I have in a long time.  Yes, most of the books were science fiction.

While I have been away, I have not been unaware of the news.  In this day and age it is almost impossible not to have the news put in front of you.  It is everywhere…

I watched a Confederate Flag come down at a Statehouse, a USA Flag raised over Cuba, and the rainbow flag waved all over the country. I watched marches, seen banners and placards, heard chants and saw people kneel in prayer.  The Supreme Court spoke and the Episcopal Church voted.  Some people cheered, some grieved.  

As I watched the news or read the paper, I saw fear in the eyes of some, hope in the eyes of others. 

In all this, I prayed for you. I hoped for you.  I believed in you and your ability not to let the events harm our common life.  Your love for Christ, His Church, and each other is strong.  I am not sure of the conversations you have all had in your small groups and coffee hour moments.  But I hope they were examples of Christ’s sacrificial love and manifested the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

I want to talk.

I want to talk about so much of this.

I want to talk, but I have a question.  I wonder if we are brave enough to have a civilized conversation and end it in unity and love.  I wonder if we can, as we promise in our Baptismal Covenant, “to respect the dignity of every human being”, and “seek and serve Christ in all people” as we talk about volatile topics; as we talk about issues we approach with a great deal of emotion.  I believe we can.

What does it mean to be Christ to all people – to be Christ even with the haters and the hated? What does it mean to sit at Jesus table and talk to each other?

I want to talk…

Dear people of Trinity,

I am back. I love you all.  What is God asking of us as we move into Trinity’s tomorrow?

Blessings and Peace,

 

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• The Rev. Dr. Gerald Sevick

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