Epiphany 2 – 19 Jan 2025

Blessings to our St. George’s community,

In a time when there is much that is troubling in the world around us, the new calendar year and our approaching vestry meeting offer us an opportunity to consider who we are as a community, what we value, and how we want to be in the world. The lectionary readings at this time of year are a collection of stories about the start of Jesus’ public ministry -his baptism, the wedding at Cana, the reading of the scroll in the synagogue- and each of these sets a particular tone or orientation for the time ahead.

As we make our own plans and decisions for the year ahead, I suggest that we remember our Advent practice of noticing -holding a leaf or a branch and asking, “What if I had never seen this before?” “What if I knew I would never see it again?” I wonder what we would learn if we brought that kind of caring attention to the practical, ordinary things that we do in the life of the church: meetings, events, projects. I suspect that it will help us to understand what is important to us, the heart of what we are about, what we really want to give our precious time and money to, and what we can let go of.

I am glad to be on this journey of wondering together,
Rev. Laurel