Mid-Week Message, 9-29-21

Sept. 29, 2021

“When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in service of my vision – then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.”  Audre Lorde

Friends,

October arrives with waning daylight and longer nights. The gradual shift, from autumn into winter’s extended nocturnal hours, gives our eyes a chance to adjust to the darkness. October is a month when we are invited to embrace the shadowy aspects of life – from the grief of letting go to the unexamined fears of what the future may hold. The darkness is fertile territory. Navigating the dark takes all of our senses; it takes dreams and imagination – and from these, new visions are cast.

Our theme for the month of October is Mission/Vision. Having a vision for who we want to be and how we want to be in the world, a vision for what is possible if we dare to dream, makes us more able to move forward with strength, courage, and clarity of purpose. A compelling vision helps to clarify our mission, or that to which we must give our lives if we are to realize the vision. A clear mission keeps us focused on our aims, goals, and larger purposes.

The Dutch theologian and prolific author, Henri J. Nouwen put it this way: “We can discover who we really are. And we can ascertain when to act, when to wait, and when to be led.”

This season invites another shift, a turning inward of the kind that yields self-knowledge. This is true for individuals and for congregations. Knowing where you’ve come from, what you’ve been through, how life events have shaped you into the persons and the people you are today – this is the fertile ground from which new visions are born.

As days grow shorter and night’s blanket of darkness lengthens over us, may we invite the inward turn, the inward look into who we are and who we might become. May we dare to dream and imagine a new vision into being.