Streams of Mercy

Yesterday was the last Sunday of the “church” year, and we celebrated Christ the King Sunday. Christ the King draws our attention to see the big picture. We may be lost in our circumstances of the moment, but God is still at work. God is always working His purpose out in our lives and in all of life. All of God’s purposes will be accomplished. and God will complete the good work begun in each of our lives.

In a time of upheaval and change in my life, these truths are comforting and encouraging. As I step into the final weeks of ministry in this wonderful church, and this very special community, I trust that God will complete all that needs to be completed in us and among us, blessing us and helping us find our way to the “something new” that is planned for us.

The words of Ecclesiastes 3 are helpful, and this morning these words spoke to my heart: “There’s a time for everything … a time to keep and a time to throw away …” The Message translation puts it this way, “There is a right time for everything ... a right time to hold on and another to let go.” This particular translation encourages and comforts me in this season of my life. So much “stuff” accumulates in a lifetime, and it’s a challenging, bittersweet task sorting through it all! “Letting go” is something I can do, even as I struggle with “throwing away.”

Somewhere along the way, I heard the phrase “letting go with love” and looking back I can see the many ways I have done that: letting go of churches in move after move in ministry; letting go of children as they step out on their own life’s journey; letting go of living spaces that have been home through the years; letting go of furniture and books and items that won’t fit into the smaller space I’ll soon be calling home; letting go of hopes and dream, etc. All that “letting go” is making room for something new – a truth I’ve learned in my lifetime of soon to be 75 years. It’s helpful to remember this in the bittersweet experience of sorting through, remembering and leaving.

I came across a wonderful song that is helping me along the way- “The Time for Turning.” I believe our choir sang it at Homecoming one year.

“To everything a season, to everything a time; a moment to move forward and leave the past behind. As summer turns to autumn and bids farewell to spring, there comes a time for turning to everything living thing. The breezes change direction, the geese turn homeward bound; The leaf turns from its clinging and falls up on the ground. The flower turns from blooming to slumber in the snow, and so to all a season, a time for letting go. Now is the time for turning and this the place to start, for yielding to the yearning , for changing of the heart; a moment to surrender the things we should release, forgive and find forgiveness, and in forgiveness peace."

In such a “time for turning” it’s helpful to celebrate “Christ the King” and to be drawn from my circumstances of the moment to the “big picture” of my life. God is at work in my life and in all of life, even now, and all of God’s purposes will be accomplished, as God completes the good work begun in my life and in all of life.

Giving thanks for those streams of mercy, never ceasing, carrying us from season to season on our journeys of life and faith.

Elizabeth