One of my favorite poems and prayers to contemplate in times of newness, adventure, transitions, and change is For a New Beginning by John O’Donohue. I invite you to ponder it as we enter a new year and a new season in the life of our church and country. I invite you to prayerfully wonder with God about what new beginning might be emerging in you and in us at ELPC. I pray that together, may we all have our courage kindled, as we step onto new ground and what may seem like an unclear destination, trusting the promise of this new opening. May we awaken our spirit of adventure, hold nothing back, and learn to find ease in risk!
In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the daylight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plentitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.