September 26, 2020
Endings and Beginnings.
This is the Eve of the last day of the Light the Fire ride and I am at Warren Dunes State Park. Under the shelter of a thick forest of towering trees, it is difficult to know whether it is the waves of Lake Michigan that soothe or the rippling of leaves above. In either case, it is a lulling sound. A time of pause, before the last 46 miles.
It is coming to an end. The ride, all of the energy in the preparation, the planning, the training. A set plan to execute. All of the energy you have given, the donations, supporting me in prayer each day, sending emails as you read the blog. It is all coming to an end. I must admit (although we are expecting 15 mph southerly winds tomorrow), I am not quite ready to see it go. There is a sense of an ending in this Eve, a goodbye. But as I stand on this threshold, I am also trusting that God will use the seeds planted through this ride to create something completely new. I am trusting and believing that God shall create something beyond my imaginings, just as God has done so many times in the life of this mission. Now more than ever before.
It is not quite a parallel analogy, but in thinking of endings and beginnings, I am reminded of this greater story that we are all now navigating. We had many plans for Faith In Practice when COVID-19 descended upon us. A certain future. A set schedule. A plan to execute. But those plans came to an end. Abruptly. We had to let go of many things. The idea of what this mission was supposed to be, or where we thought we were headed. Our assured future trajectory. But that was not to be.
In that acknowledgement, there was – there is – loss. And, yet, in this loss, there is fresh and new possibility. New imaginings. The hope of new beginnings. I must admit, it has taken me some time to turn from loss to possibility, but this ride, and your response, has helped me do just that. And, I am confident that the God that brought this mission into being, who has sustained it and grown it so faithfully for more than 25 years, will continue to do so. Because God is faithful. And, so are you.
I have already seen newness of life emerging, new ways of moving forward that would not have been possible before this crisis. So, I am looking forward to God’s new future that surely awaits us, rather than seeking to return to how things were before. Because I know God’s new future for this mission shall exceed anything that we could imagine. Better than anything we could imagine.
But, this sense of endings and beginnings is not limited to Faith In Practice. Each of us is navigating much loss, at many levels, due to the impact of COVID-19.
So, as we all stand on the threshold between what has been and what shall be, my hope and prayer for each of you is you might lean into and trust that new future that God has designed and lovingly created just for you.
Many of you have heard me recite this prayer before, but I think it fitting in this time of pause, this time of endings and beginnings. May it be a prayer that we hope into, live into, each day. Newness of life in the letting go. Knowing that God shall break us open and help us to become ‘what was intended all along.’
Into your hands I place my life, O God.
Take me and plant me like a seed.
Deep in the earth does the acorn know what it will be?
The seed breaks open and dies in order to become what is unknown but intended all along.
So we each live in the darkness of our own night, seeds in
Our shells, we must die to ourselves, in order to come to new light.
So, O God, plant me deep in your love, break me open to set me free…
Into your hands, I place my life, O God.
Take me and plant me like a seed.
– Vicki Armour-Hileman, MMAF, Maryknoll, New York
May it be so for you, for me, and for this mission that we all love so well. That has given and has given us so very much.
And, please continue to hold Laurie and Stan and me in prayer as we end the ride at Valparaiso University tomorrow. And, please say a prayer for Adam and Stacy Griner who will support Zimmer Biomet riders, who will riding this last day with me. Keeping in mind the 15 mph winds….
As I mentioned yesterday, I will be preaching at the Chapel of the Resurrection at Valparaiso University tomorrow night. And, no, I haven’t started the sermon yet! So prayers needed for that as well.
I will continue to blog through Monday.
Something else I will miss. Connecting with you all each day. Yes, I will miss that very much.
Sending love and with much gratitude,
Rev. Linda McCarty
PS Looking back, acorns have played a prominent role in this ride. I will have to give more thought to that in the days ahead. Stay tuned!
