I don’t know how you feel about it, but for me, the last five years of our time together have been exciting, enlightening, encouraging, and full of learning; as well as daunting and quite challenging. Nevertheless, as I write these last thoughts, I am grateful to G-D for it all! I have always been a perpetual student and have never tired of adventures in learning new things, so I was particularly happy to arrive from the Deep South to Mid-Atlantic America. I considered my arrival and presence in the beautiful Christ-centered community of Redeemer another puzzle piece in understanding my life’s assignment, which I am sure is ordered by Divine design.
We are each individual and unique, and yet our assignments are all the same. Somewhere, each of our individual destinies is to metaphorically Walk Each Other Home or to assist each other back into the fullness of G-D. Home is where LOVE lives. It is our destiny to undertake this great enterprise, and at Redeemer, I feel truly blessed to have been called to a community that is doing just that.
We have been through a lot—you and I. Who would have ever thought we would be celebrating Easter Sunday on Zoom while our beloved David+ celebrated the Holy Eucharist on the sidewalk with his neighbors on Chester Street? Did we dare to breathe a sigh of relief after the threat of COVID-19 had dissipated a bit? And what about the travesty of George Floyd’s murder and the battle of the Black Lives Matter movement against slander and libelous dialogue everywhere around us?
And after all of that, just look at the beauty that arose from those ashes, including, but not limited to— the ordination to Holy Orders of the priesthood a new priest in our midst (our Rebecca+), and the resulting vibrancy and new life brought to the Youth and Young Adult ministries; Breathwork weekly on Facebook and Yoga Church monthly; enlivening and enlightening bible studies on Wednesdays and Thursdays; full investiture in learning more of our nation’s history through Sacred Ground; Evensong and Taize services that always left us wanting more; fuller engagement with life in Baltimore City through BUILD, Turnaround Tuesday, and beyond.
Through it all, we have kept rocking and rolling into new Life. It is the life we are living today, and it feels glorious. Truly, as we have listened to the Spirit, we have been learning our assignment. You and I have each been Walking Each Other Home.
Every ending is a new beginning. My daughter, Crystal, told me that when she was 13 or 14 years old.
“Never forget, Mom,” she said, “the sun sets on this side of the world but rises on the other. There’s no place where it’s always night.” True words.
My Friends, the sun rises each and every day we are given, and you will remain in my heart as a Light forever. Remember that you are blessed to BE a blessing. That, too, is part of the assignment.
With Love and Prayers for Every Good,
Freda Marie+