Climate Confirmation

     I thank Rev. Laurie Haller, Grand Rapids District Superintendent, for this story in her 2-21-11 "Leading From the Heart" blog: In a village located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, a little bit north of Cape Horn in South America a young man built a boat all by himself and made plans to sail it around the world. When the day arrived for him to leave, the people in the village came down to the shore to wave good-bye. Many of them were crying because they didn’t think they would ever see him again. Others were shaking their heads in disbelief as if to say he was a fool.

The young man’s family was very upset. His mother kept hanging onto him and pleading with him not to go. His father was angry and said that his son was doing the stupidest thing he’d ever seen in his whole life. Others were giving him all kinds of warnings and advice. “If you get to the Cape, and the wind is howling out of the Southwest, turn around and don’t go any further!” said one man. “If the temperature drops below freezing during the late afternoon, give up your voyage right then and there. Don’t keep sailing into the night!” said another. “If you get around to the other side, and you’re having any difficulties with your radio, please find a safe harbor. Don’t strike out across the Pacific!” said yet another. On and on the comments went.

But one person was different. Just one. He happened to be the oldest man in the village. “Son,” he said to the young, adventurous sailor, “I’ve watched you grow up from a little baby to a young man. I know how much you love the sea and what a great appetite you have for excitement and adventure. All I want to say to you is this, ‘Go forth with joy! Savor every minute! Have a great time! Just know as you do that the Lord our God goes with you and will be with you every step of the way!’”

     The heritage of our congregation is that we are generations of disciples following Jesus together. I continue to learn family histories and relationships that span generations. And one impression I have is that there is a fairly steady climate here. Over time and throughout the years you have found, and now we are finding, ways to remain faithful in the midst of lots of changes in the weather (remember the summer storms last year) and momentary challenges that claim our attention.

Lent is the gift of a season to reflect on the longer-term ways God is growing us up in faith; to appreciate the spiritual climate of the church.

Rev. Haller continues her reflection, "What is the difference between climate and weather? Weather is momentary. Climate endures. Weather lasts for a limited time. Climate describes a prevailing characteristic, an attitude, or way of being in the world."

Annie Dillard, one of my favorite writers, describes the contrast this way: “There is no shortage of good days. It is good lives that are hard to come by. A life of good days lived in the senses is not enough. The life of sensation is the life of greed; it requires more and more. The life of the spirit requires less and less; time is ample and its passage sweet. Who would call a day spent reading a good day? But a life spent reading -- that is a good life” (The Writing Life).

In Lent we not only reflect on the climate of our faith but encourage each other to go forth with joy, based on life-long journeys with God and appreciative knowledge of each other. May God bless our Lenten journeys with gratitude for the life-confirming climate of grace and peace.