The Sadness of Division

It genuinely saddens me when people break with the church over issues they cannot agree. We are after all members of the same Body of Christ. We may not agree on every difficult issue that arises in the Church, but we are called to be One, just and God the Holy Trinity is One. The world is not a black and white place in which we exist; and neither is the Church. It is in the gray areas of life where we struggle that are most important. For it is in the gray areas we meet the Risen Christ. It is in the gray areas that God calls us into deep discernment and prayer. It is in the gray areas that we wrestle with God and even one another. But in the end, what make the Episcopal Church so special is that it makes room for the gray areas; it is called the Via Media (the middle way). The gray areas are where we experience spiritual growth and the place where God forges and reforges our lives. While it can be a painful place of change, it is also a place of genuine revelation (God speaking to us) and transformation. 

My heart breaks when we lose people and congregations due to our differences and the view that there are different “sides.” When we create “sides” we create division and are doing exactly what Satan wants for God’s people. I don’t condemn or hold anything against those who leave the church because of their unhappiness with the direction she may take; rather I desire more than anything to reunite with them in faithful reconciliation and love.

As for me, I will stand with my beloved Episcopal Church through thick and thin. She was there for me when no one else was. She was my banner in the dark that beckoned me home with open, forgiving and loving arms. She accepts people for who they are and where they are in life. I stand proudly, yet humbly with the Episcopal Church USA. 

Discovering the “Self”

All to often we look for purpose and meaning for our lives within ourselves. There are countless self-help books that attempt to assist us in discovering the “meaning of our lives.” Yet beginning with the “self” in order to find our purpose and meaning in life is looking in the wrong place. One may ask, “What?! Well just where am I supposed to begin? After all, isn’t it my life I’m trying to enhance and further explore?” The answer to these questions is “yes,” it is our life that we seek to find a deeper purpose and more profound meaning, but the source in which we begin is not within ourselves, but with God.

Our lives begin with Christ and our lives as Christians are centered in Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us, “He is the image of the unseen God, the first born of all creation, for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth: everything visible and invisible, thrones, ruling forces, sovereignties, powers- all things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16).  In other words, rather than looking to our inner most selves for our purpose in life, we are called to look to Christ; Christ who is begotten (meaning there before all time) and Christ who knew us before we were even formed in the womb. This is revelation (God speaking to us) rather than self-formation (speaking to ourselves!).

In order for us to truly find and better understand our purpose in life we must begin with Christ. For it is by him and with him and in him that our lives take on new meaning and transformation. The “self” becomes less important as we listen, pray and seek God’s will for our lives. We suddenly find newness in life that comes from the Holy Spirit.

So turn to God as we walk this journey called life, and we will discover not only our spiritual gifts but our genuine purpose in life as well.