Letter from Lindy Nov 21

Hello Pilgrims,

I have had trouble adjusting this week. Confessionally, last week’s sermon drained me and I have not yet completely recovered, I think. Also coming upon the holidays amidst loss and grief as “my firsts” fills your pastor with melancholy in her bones. Hope for me honoring these markers as I know I need, for many reasons, is not my unfolding reality. I’m sure that also contributes to this lowtide.

Even in my current state, the end of the Christian year typically beckons me into a more reflective space. Deep unanswerable questions bubble to the surface and become my 3am conversation partner. In many ways, these last breaths as ordinary time closes its door and Advent ushers its way in, we stand at a threshold where questions reside. I appreciate the in-between-ness of threshold worlds, like Narnia’s wardrobe--even if their mysterious unknowing never offers the certainty (nor the answers) we so desire. Perhaps because this wilderness is where I already traverse, the season has finally caught up with my journey, if only for a moment. Who knows?

What I do know is that my bandwidth is low; my concentration, suspect; my heart, not always present to the moment. I wonder if others find themselves likewise or are you instead feeling the tingles of excitement and anticipation for finally, finally being able to connect with family, friends, loved ones after such a prolonged absence? Both experiences are real and valid, and only two on the continuum of emotion. What with the expansion of vaccine birthing hope amidst the caution of rising COVID numbers. It is hard to chart a course with so much uncertainty, isn’t it?

So we do the best we can with due diligence. That is the work Pilgrim’s budget committee has undertaken these past five months when Ami called them to begin their process months in advance of tradition because as she often remarks, “everything takes longer in this pandemic.” So true. The committee would like to give you an overview of how they hope to imagine 2022, which, of course, cannot be done without you. Our “Meet the Budget” after worship is to continue the committee’s conversation with you. We need our 2022 unfolding to involve the whole of community so that the work before us feels collectively lighter. More importantly, as we turn toward each other, we will discover our work becoming worshipful, filled with hope, peace, love and joy--God’s gift among us.

grace and love,
Pastor Lindy (she/her) why pronouns matter

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