Streams of Mercy
At a recent presbytery meeting we shared in conversation about “those whose shoulders we stand on.” We were encouraged to remember those who invested in our lives and influenced us to become who we are today. Sometimes these life investments were for a moment, while others were long term. Yet regardless of the length of time, we are standing on the shoulders of others. When we look down, who do we see?
On this 28th anniversary of my ordination as Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, USA, I look down and see many people who have been a part of my journey of life and faith. My dear mother played the greatest part, being a constant example of love, sacrifice and faithfulness, in sunshine and shadow, on days good and bad, through all the years. My home church, its pastors, teachers and faithful members nurtured me in the faith. I remember riding the bus with a group of friends to another little mountain town to attend a presbytery youth rally – “Each of Us Has Our Own Special Calling” – with a Snoopy and Charlie Brown theme, and remember wondering if that was true for me! How well I remember the day our pastor dropped me off on “the wrong side of town” on a hot summer afternoon with a kick ball, a jar of lemonade and some paper cups! By the end of that summer, a Bible School was up and running among the poorest of the poor. While I worked as “home mission worker” for two summers during my college years, my growing sense of call led me to a career of teaching public school in the mountains. For 38 years I lived in this special place, married, had three children and enjoyed years of being a “stay at home” Mom as they grew. But God had another plan for my life, and I began to open up to that plan.
About that time, a pastor came along who encouraged me to listen more closely to the call of God in my life; one who saw some gifts that were unrecognized, unexplored and undeveloped. Then came seminary interns and Christian Education interns to work among us- each one challenging me to be more, and to explore my growing sense of call. I remember being on the playground one day and turning to a fellow teacher to say, “That bush over there is burning.” (Moses at the burning bush, remember?) She replied that I should take off my shoes, that I was on holy ground. She knew that God was at work in my life and was there to encourage and help me find the way.
Several years later, I stood “between the known of my past, and the vast unknown of the future ahead.”
Why do I feel I must go through this door?
Because God calls me…
Believing in the God whose will is wholeness,
Believing in the Christ who will guide me on the journey,
Believing in the Holy Spirit who gives us each the power to do more than we can believe or dare to ask for,
believing all this, I step across the edge of time,
through the door into the future on my journey to wholeness in Christ.”
(from Images, by Joyce Grana)
Now it’s 30 some years later, and I look down and see all who have been a part of my journey of life and faith, and I give thanks. The choice was made – and saying yes to one possibility was saying no forever to the other way, but I believe that God has been in the choosing. In all the comings and goings of ministry, from place to place and year to year, it’s been a “roughish and beautiful” road, filled with challenges, with grace and goodness, and always with the hope that God was ever at work in and through my life.
Giving thanks for all that has been and all that is yet to be, for those streams of mercy, never ceasing, carrying us through this life into all that is to come and for traveling mercies along the way!
Elizabeth