Dear Friends
Journeying
After this morning’s Eucharist Carol said, “Life is all
about Hello’s and Good-bye’s! I suspect it was in response to my comment on
today’s Gospel reading where Jesus says he must preach the Good News in other
towns as well (Luke 4:43), and I mentioned that there is a nice little village
called Newlands … . I have enjoyed saying Hello for the last almost nine years,
and am not particularly enjoying saying Good-Bye, and there always seems to be
somebody else still to tell that we are leaving. I said to someone that I’d
love to just magically find us in Cape Town, with the house sold, our
belongings moved, and our new adventure in full swing! But life is not magical
in that sense and the journey of transition is an important one, both for Dawn
and I, but also for everyone at Corpus Christi. Change in this context is
important, and reminds me of the parable of the fig-tree that hadn’t born fruit
for at least three years: the gardener knew that if he stirred its roots a
little and fertilised it well there was potential for new growth. Our roots are
being stirred, and God is preparing us all for new growth.
The liminal space of transition is never an easy space. As we
stand on the threshold of the future we are aware of the past that lies behind us.
We need to bid that past farewell while acknowledging that it has shaped us,
for good or bad, and that we have been formed in its womb. While we bid the
past farewell it travels with us in memory, in outlook, in experience, in
wisdom. As we look ahead, as we prepare to embrace the future, in the words of
Maria Harris in Jubilee Time, “we are
being lured to open the doors of our hearts and the gates of our spirits.” Transition
is a mix of emotion: grief for what we leave behind, uncertainty in the moments
of change, and excitement for the future. It is ultimately, though, a challenge
to be open, to seek renewal, to find fresh hope.
Dawn and I plan to journey well. We pray that your journey will
be a good one, too, and that you also journey well. Take heart from Jeremiah
29:11-14 (ESV), “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans
for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will
call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and
find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares
the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes …”
Need
We are selling our home in Lancelot Road (Garsfontein), and
if you are aware of anyone looking for a house please get them to make contact.
We are also looking for accommodation for our daughter, Cassie, who wishes to
remain in Pretoria. She is very easy going and generally undemanding, and doesn’t
need much. She is presently apprenticed as a Tattoo Artist in Hatfield, and is
waitering in Hatfield Square to make some money. If you are aware of or can
offer cheap but safe accommodation we would love to hear from you!
Blessings
Mark
