LENT 2005
From the Editor...
From Death to Life
It is one thing to talk about Holy Week but another thing to
live it. 1999 was a year of transitions for my family, most notably
because my
wife began a full time graduate program.
A huge part of my time went to working with the vestry as we
wrestled
with God’s call in terms of expanding our facilities.
A moment of tremendous challenge came when we
decided to let our hired capital campaign consultant go.
You guessed it – it happened in Holy Week. I
was spent and exhausted physically, but
struggling to have real faith in God.
Repeatedly I came back to the question: Is God good, can he be
trusted,
does he have a loving purpose in this situation? I
couldn’t see it, but we walk by faith; not
by sight. Firing a campaign consultant
in the middle of a vital project seemed to be folly, but what did I
know?
When I arrived on Easter morning for Sunday services, I
could not see what God was doing but still I sang Alleluias. Between services one of our precious
parishioners, Dot Stoney, wife of our long-term treasurer, died. With three parish clergy, it was my turn to
visit the family, hard hit by her death.
I shall always remember walking up the sidewalk on our
street, exhausted, the next day. The family informed me that they
wished me to
preach the funeral homily for Dot. I
didn’t see how I could do it, but I could not say no.
Somehow, in ways I will never fully
understand, as I celebrated Dot’s rising to new life in the next world,
I, too,
rose, in this one.
There are now two new buildings in that parish, but when I
drive by them, I think primarily of something else.
“We thank you for those disappointments …
that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone.” (BCP, p. 836). Especially for those that cause our lack of
trust in God to die that deeper faith in Him might rise.
The
Rev. Canon Dr.
Kendall S. Harmon
Contact Dr
Harmon by
e-mail at ksharmon@mindspring.com
Return
to TAD menu