What
does it mean to have visions?
What does it mean to have
vision?
Is
Martha or Mary the better disciple?
How are they different?
Why
do we fear death? What is it that we
fear?
Why
do we have such trouble letting go of things that we no longer need?
Why have we all become
hoarders?
How
do we know when it is time to say goodbye to something that has been important
to us; to our parents; to our community?
How
do we then acknowledge the tradition it represented? How do we grieve its passing? How do we let it go?
There
have been so many losses in this community.
In my time here I have buried 29 people and watched as two other members
of this parish were buried. I have seen
the death of one legion branch. I have
seen people move away. I have prayed as
the fisheries continue to struggle and the parks cut back; as people lost their
jobs. I have sat with you in this church
and its counsels looking at our present struggles and our hope for the future.
How
do we know when it is time to let go?
This day, the Feast of All Saints, is a day when we honour those who
came before us; when we honour those who have built what we call the church and
those who continue to work within and for God through his church. We honour them when we use what they built to
work for God’s purpose here in this community.
All
of you have a very difficult task ahead of you.
You are going to have to look at everything you have in this parish and
prayerfully ask that question. Are we
using this to honour God? I expect that
sometimes the answer might be “no. We are
just trying to preserve the memory of what it used to mean.” If that is the answer, it does not honour
those who came before and it does not honour God.
I
pray that you will have the support you need from God and from the diocese to
mourn their loss; to remember their traditions and their meaning to this
community; and to let them go so that you can move on worshiping and serving
God for generations to come. Amen.
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