November 1, 2010
I’ve been going through a lot of transitions in my life- becoming a wife and an in-law for starters! A friend of mine in Omaha passed away suddenly this summer and another very close friend moved to NYC. I’ve also started teaching modern dance at a local high school one morning a week (7:45 am + 47 students = crazyfun!) and ballet classes at the Jewish Community Center two evenings a week.
Here in the Word Made Flesh office we’ve also had some recent transitions. After serving years with WMF this fall three close friends of mine are moving on to other workplaces and life stages. A common topic for conversation in WMF is the challenge of transitions. As an organization we value community and so when we talk about transitions around here we often mean the attrition of staff members, people who have become close friends to us.
Transition is hard! As a dancer I know the feeling of a good stretch and a bad stretch, but in the rest of my life it’s sometimes harder to tell the difference. I felt the stretch of a lot of these transitions I described this summer and I couldn’t tell at the time if it was a bad or good stretch. Through the summer I was able to take twenty minutes of listening prayer with Jesus most mornings, and then reflect on those times weekly with my spiritual director. I also took a three day retreat to a Benedictine retreat center where I prayed many Psalms; Psalm 37 in particular sticking with me. I so relied on those times each morning and in retrospect they were really what sustained me through the beginning of all kinds of transition.
I was shocked this week at our community prayer time my friend Hilary picked Psalm 37 for us to reflect on:
39But the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD;
He is their strength in time of trouble (and transition!!)
40The LORD helps them and delivers them;
He delivers them from the wicked and saves them,
Because they take refuge in Him.
Transition is challenging but it brings clarity. When we have staff transitions in Word Made Flesh we are able to see areas where our community is strong and areas where we need to grow. One area that we realized we need to grow this summer was in the area of praying together. As a local community in Omaha we bumped our prayer times up to daily, we have begun to meet for just ten minutes in the morning to pray and then pass the peace to each other. We have also started praying for each other during the work day at various times through out the month. It’s small but it’s a start.
Over and over again I realize that what sustains me in times of trouble and in times of transition is turning to God and taking refuge in God’s loving care for me. I hope that as we practice this turning towards God as a community it will keep us turning towards each other in love.
This month I will pray that you remember to take time to turn towards God and experience his love and care for you.
Lots of love,
Liz