Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Jesus said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Truly Human one has no place to lay his head.” . . . After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go.
— Luke 9.58, 10.1
It’s the migration season. These are the days when United Methodists pastors are moving, to begin their new appointments on July 1. I know several (and some of other denominations, too) who are in the middle of cardboard boxes and address changes, goodbyes and hellos, endings and beginnings. It’s a strange existence, living as nomads, making and leaving friends, picking up and going, always going, with little or no control over where you are sent. (For all its benefits, the system contributes to a lot of hidden grief, loneliness, powerlessness and self-doubt among UM clergy, and churches, too. We seldom talk about it, but we should.)
Today I pray for all the world’s wanderers, for the nomads and the rootless, for the immigrants, the displaced and the perennial newcomers. For people who move for work, for the homeless, for illegal aliens, for migrant workers, for military families. For recent graduates who haven’t found their place. For runaway children. For foster children. For exiles. For refugees.
I pray for those who feel uprooted, when the world shifts and they no longer feel at home, for those who do not feel that they “belong.” For those who are searching for their place in the world. For those who are not welcomed.
Though you may feel alone, you are in good company. Jesus wanders with you. And there are others who wander with you, who know what you’re going through, and are thinking of you. Even on the strange road, you are among sisters and brothers, a communion of nomadic saints. We are people of the Exodus.
You do not wander aimlessly. Jesus himself, the Wandering One, has sent you ahead, where he himself intends to come. Wherever you are, Christ is with you. God is the land. Spirit is the road. Trust the Presence.
Deep Blessings,
Pastor Steve
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Copyright © Steve Garnaas-Holmes
unfoldinglight@hotmail.com