Turning the Page

            I have a 'dogs under water' calendar hanging in my kitchen, with each month hilariously highlighting a dog trying to catch a ball thrown into a pool. And while 2020 calendars may not have been the best investment, May's dog picture seemed quite fitting - the poor pupper is eagerly headed in a different direction from the ball. (A great analogy to how we feel in COVID, chasing the elusive moving target of 'normalcy'.)

            I noticed this week that despite this adorableness, it was no longer May. And thus, it was time to flip the calendar. This is not a difficult task; yet I found myself delaying.

            Part of it was that I liked what was there - and so I wanted to maintain it. I hadn't taken a peak at June's dog and made a conscious choice to stick with May, I don't think I was making a subconscious existential analysis rejecting time's passing; I just liked where I was at. But yesterday I turned the page: acknowledging that to leave it in May was both unhelpful and denied me the possibility of what was yet to come.

            Turning the page in our lives, however, can be hard work. And we, as a society, and as a church, are facing the undeniable truth that it's time to turn a page. How we gather, how we will use our buildings, how our whole society will function is going to be very different for a while. And while we are stunned by this (and rightly so!) it is time for us to turn the page.

            Certainly, when it comes to church, we don't know yet what that will look like. Because we have become comfortable with what is comfortable - and we have resisted the concept of change. Even what looks like change may be a temporary adaptation (online services, for example, are merely a change of venue).

            What we have before us is both an opportunity and a need - to turn the page; and it comes with an uncontrollable external force. All that we do as church is going to look very different for a long time - worship, bible study, fellowship, youth ministry, sacramental ministry, pastoral care, the list goes on. And so we are now called to recognise that the past is passed, and we are able to prayerfully and carefully discern what is possible, what is feasible, and what is faithful.

            What was may have been great. And what is ahead can also be great. We won't know until we have the courage to turn the page. Just like the calendar - May was fantastic, but until I turned the page, I didn't know how great June would be (and it does not disappoint - as I now get to see a close-up of a very happy adorable chocolate lab!)

            Let's be confident that God is with us as we turn the page to a fantastic future.