More to Tell You

My sermon last Sunday was a bit long. I spoke about Mary and Martha and how they both were doing right, but Martha had her choices in the wrong order. How, like Martha, we tend to take on other people’s tasks and, in the process, lose God’s message. How I visited a deserted Irish isle called Inishmurray and observed how the ancient crosses lacked transepts (horizontal pieces) due to strong winds that would blow them out of the vertical posts, except on Sundays, when the priests would slide the transepts back in. How the vertical piece was, and still is, permanent—in all crosses, that piece is a reminder that our vertical connection with God is what holds up our horizontal connection with the world. How it is important, like Mary, to begin with God first, not after all the chores are done. Honestly, there was more I wanted to say, but I didn’t want to keep you there for another 20 minutes! Instead, I’ll finish here, in the rector’s note.

I wanted to tell you how important Morning Prayer is to us as Christians. It starts our day with God and sets our intention for how we interact with our day. You can do Morning Prayer with The Book of Common Prayeror with an app, or you can join us at St. Bart’s every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:40 a.m. to 9:10 a.m. We meet in the chapel, or you can join by Zoom. At the end of every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, we also have Evening Prayer at 5 p.m., in the sanctuary and also by Zoom. After these “daily offices,” those in attendance always give thanks for the opportunity to start or end their day with God in this way. It is who we are.

I wanted to tell you how important it is to me, before I serve during our worship, to start with my own connection to God. The worship team always prays as a group, but at the beginning of the 10 a.m. Choral Eucharist, as the opening hymn is finishing, I take a moment. I join you in facing the chancel to soak up the beauty of God’s presence. Those moments fill me with awe and joy before we begin the liturgy—the “work of the people.”

Finally, I wanted to tell you what a former spiritual director once said to me about discernment. When you are trying to discern God’s will in your life—which way to go, what decision to make—remember one phrase:Follow your joy. For where your soul sings alleluias, that is where you will find God calling you. This is so essential as we gear up to live into our three- to five-year strategic plan. What part of it sings alleluias to you? This is where you engage, because you will never run out of inspiration and energy for the task.

May you always have the discipline to first connect with God and then follow the joy you find. May your path be straight and your shoulders unburdened: “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30).

Mother Nina+