This beautiful spring!  Days of looking through blooming trees at lingering snow on Mary’s Peak. Days of rain and hail, daffodils now fading and tulips beginning to bloom.  And, this struggling world!  Days of horror and cruelty, of war and destruction, of juvenile incompetent insane leadership.  “This being human is a guesthouse,” Rumi said.  All of the unexpected visitors – the joys and the sorrows, the beautiful and the horrible – let them all in, he said.  (Because there is always something to learn).  I’ve long appreciated these sentiments, but now – they feel a little too sentimental.  This house is on fire, and has been for some time.  Everything is at risk, including ourselves.  Including our humanity.

Where we are today is in the position of taking stock of our humanity.  (Thank-you Cory Booker!) Of letting go of our attachments to things and habits which kept us merely entertained and distracted.  If there is love, if there is justice, if there is compassion and peace, these things live through us and must be our focus now.  To be a covenantal community means to make these truly our highest ideals.  There is in fact much to learn.  That is what we are doing together.

All of the changes happening in the Fellowship – the renewal of our building, the coming changes in leadership at the Annual meeting, the re-imagining of our justice work, our continual welcoming of newcomers, our work on strategic planning for the grounds, my coming retirement and the beginning of interim and new ministries – these are all part of the learning and of the focusing of our energies.  It’s hard some days, even harder on others, and also life-giving in many ways.   For the changes we must be part of, we are just beginning to prepare.  Stay with us, keep coming!  May we each be a blessing to each other and the world.