I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
    and in his word I put my hope.
My soul waits for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Psalm 130: 5-6 from a Song of Ascents
 
Waiting is essential to the spiritual life. But waiting as a disciple of Jesus is not an empty waiting. It is a waiting with a promise in our hearts that makes already present what we are waiting for. We wait during Advent for the birth of Jesus. We wait after Easter for the coming of the Spirit, and after the ascension of Jesus we wait for his coming again in glory. We are always waiting, but it is a waiting in the conviction that we have already seen God’s footsteps.
— Henri Nouwen from Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith 

To wait is a hard, sweet paradox in the Christian life.  It is hard not yet having what we know will be coming.  But it is sweet to have certainty it is coming because of the footprints we have seen: He has been here among us.  

Like the labor of childbirth, we groan knowing what it will take to get there, and we are full to brimming already.
The waiting won’t be easy; it will often be painful to be patient, staying alert to possibility and hope when we are exhausted, barely able to function.  Others won’t understand why we wait, nor do they comprehend what we could possibly be waiting for.  
We persevere together, with patience, watching and hoping; we are a community groaning together in sweet expectation of the morning.

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.               Romans 8:24-25

 Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God. The world is crowded with Him. He walks everywhere incognito. And the incognito is not always easy to penetrate. The real labor is to remember to attend, in fact to come awake. Still more to remain awake.                           
                                                                                   C S Lewis

There is no event so commonplace but that God is present within it, always hiddenly, always leaving you room to recognize him or not to recognize him, but all the more fascinatingly because of all that, all the more compellingly and hauntingly… Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace.                                                      
 Amen.                                                                         Frederick Buechner


Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation

I learned something new this week. Eagles return to the same nest year after year–a steadfast marriage of life long partners and domicile that is both touching and practical.  Generations of offspring are raised in the same tree, hatched upon the same branches lined with the same dirt and down and moss and foliage, then the soiled lining is removed by the parents after the fledglings fly.  After being washed clean in the winter rains, the parents return in the spring to replace the soft bedding for the next crop of eggs.  It is a cycle of comfort, of familiarity, and of commitment.
 
Churches sort of function like eagles nests also. Our home nest is Pasadena Covenant and these days it feels like our nest has been emptied a bit, as multiple staff members have moved on to follow the voice of the Spirit. We are experiencing their absence, feel the emptiness in the nest, yet also have begun to anticipate the next season that is to come. Search teams will do their discerning work, those who remain will hold the space until our ranks are filled out and we have a full leadership team. This rhythm of filling and emptying the nest is a familiar cycle in churches, at the staff level and in the congregation. As we ‘ready our bedding’ and prepare for the new life to come, our call is to stay committed and take good care of each other. There is a lot of work involved in sustaining ministry and caring well for those in our church family. All hands on deck! Listen for the Spirit who may be prompting you to say yes to leaning in to tend to our nest. 
 
Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation