Passing the Peace

So, I haven’t been blogging for a while. This is for a number of unintentional reasons, but one of the main reasons is that things got super busy, a lot more “life drama” things happened, some new things got super shiny and distracting, plus all of the usual “starting-up-of-classes-and-getting-my-schedule-figured-out” fun.

OK, now that I’ve gotten that off my chest . . .

One of the things going on is that the church I sing in the choir for is going through a lot of heavy duty transition at the moment. We’re looking for a new pastor, going through a discernment/search process (which I’m on the committees for), and recently had people in our top three leadership positions step down simultaneously. (All for different reasons and none of them knew that the others were doing it.) There’re lots of emotions going on at the church. We are a small, tight-knit congregation, so everyone is rather burnt out and not really up to taking on more tasks. It is a very difficult situation.

One of the good things about our church *is* that it is so small that people really care about each other and treat each other like family. At every service, there is the usual moment towards the beginning of “passing the peace,” where in normal churches you just turn to your neighbor and shake their hand and say “peace be with you.” At our church, we don’t just stay in the pews, we walk clear across the sanctuary, hugging everyone and saying hi to each other. It’s one of the best things that our church does, though it does tend to put newcomers off a bit. For those who get what’s going on, they usually end up coming back. To have a moment where you’re feeling accepted and everyone is welcoming and smiling, is just the thing to get communal good feelings brewing.

So this post is my passing of the peace to you all. It’s me saying that I’m very glad you all are still here and reading. I know we are all going through a lot of stuff, internally and externally, but know that I appreciate every comment and I am reading your blogs and of thinking of you all too.

Peace be with you all today!