Transitions

Advent. The perfect time to remember that life is about constant transition from one time to the next. This transitional time is charged with expectation, anticipated joy and a new start. Jesus' birth was the greatest transition the world has ever known. Mary must have felt all the emotions that come with not only being pregnant but also knowing she was on a mission from God. Little did she really know how the birth of her child would change the world! Out of darkness and misunderstanding came the Word, the revelation of the spirit of God made manifest. What a transition!

All of us face transitions. The Church is no exception. Two weeks ago I was at a church where the rector had recently left to answer a call to another congregation. The leaders of that rector-less congregation were going through all the emotions of transition and change. They were sad, felt somewhat abandoned, abit angry at the diocese for allowing this transition to happen, and uncertain about what lay ahead. These very human responses are predictable when a church loses a leader who is held in high regard. Today I felt these same emotions when I heard about the death last Saturday of a priest who died in her prime from a vicious cancer. A woman who was reaping remarkable fruit in her ministry with a congregation that had recently moved across town and was restarting under her leadership. But I have come to understand that the nature of life is change. This priest transitioned to experience God face to face. We transition to a new way of living without her presence among us.

These times call for great faith and assurance that an all powerful and merciful Maker will see us through. We can choose to allow transitions to challenge our faith or we can choose to be expectant, to believe, to observe God working in ways that are mysterious. We can anticipate with hope what is yet to be much like the birth of Christ. Transitions are the very times when unimaginable blessings may enter our lives. Do we have the heart and the spirit to be open to the movement of God at times such as these?

In this week that transitions us from Advent to Christmas let us all remember the wondrous birth of Jesus and how it changed the world. Let us all remember that God is present in our transitions and be open to the good that may be born out of them. Merry Christmas!