Giving Up the Farm or Farewell to Farmville

There are no beginnings without endings. A new job means the end of a time of preparation either at school or an apprenticeship or the end of an old job. The birth of a child, an awesome beginning, means the end of some freedom for first time parents, or at the very least the end of sleeping at will. The beginning of spring means we say good-bye to winter — the beginning of my favorite season of autumn means farewell to the fresh fruits of summer. Beginning a new hobby means I won’t have as much time for the old one, or other things that occupied my time. A new home means the old one now belongs to someone else and is now only a place of memory for me. Perhaps that’s why beginnings are often bittersweet; each beginning is also an ending.
The beginning of this blog is a farewell to the past 15 years I’ve spent in parish ministry as an ordained minister of word and sacrament. Its the beginning of a new ministry of spiritual direction and spiritual companioning…but for the first time in my ordained life, I will practice faith leadership outside the confines of a particular church.
As with many new beginnings its both exhilirating and scary, hold-your-breath-exciting with a twinge of sadness. God and I are forming a new covenant to replace the one I’m stepping away from. And as has been true in each past covenant, I believe God is leading in this beginning and I am called to simply and humbly follow. I'm reminded in this moment, that I signed up to be a follower many, many years ago.
So here’s my first witness to the possibilities that are hidden in bittersweetness. A witness of my hope to be used by God in a new way. My cyber beginning of reaching out to be and to do what I was called to be and do in my baptism: “Go therefore into all the earth…” Oh, you know the rest. Blessings and Joy. The Celtic Monk