December 4, 2021 - Advent Week 1

 


May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

I grew up attending a tiny little Anglican church, St. Paul’s, in Ernfold, Saskatchewan.  At the time, I was the only youngster who attended.  I think I was the only parishioner under 40.  You would think that I would have felt lonely or isolated at church, not having other children to learn and worship with.  But that isn’t my recollection at all.  I remember feeling cradled and nurtured.  I was surrounded by a church family who loved me and placed a lot of hope in my spiritual formation.  I attended with my maternal Grandparents, but easily had a dozen honorary Grandparents at church.  My Sundays were filled with smiles, hugs, and patient guidance.

Our Rector, Mary (I cannot recall her last name), was such a gift from God.  I met with her weekly on Saturday mornings for Confirmation preparation.  I felt comfortable asking any question without the common teenage fears of coming across as weird or different.  She even took me to Swift Current (30 miles away) for dinner and to watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off one evening to celebrate the completion of my Confirmation classes.

After my Confirmation (which was at another Church in the Diocese WITH OTHER CHILDREN) I was added to our Lay Reader team.  I took this new ministry very seriously.  I remember feeling so grown up and was so enthusiastic about being able to serve and contribute.  Once I received my first reading assignment, I wrote out the Scripture, practiced it each day and prayed to God to help me read His Word.

Finally, the big morning arrived, and I carefully chose my most grown up outfit (a yellow dress with white polka dots) and I remember practicing my reading one more time on the car ride to church, the now worn loose leaf shaking in my hands as I read. I vividly remember walking down the aisle at church, thinking, “I don’t remember the aisle being this long before.”  As I got to the front, I turned to face the congregation and, in that moment, while looking out over the expectant faces in the sanctuary, I froze. In front of me was the lectern Bible. I stared at it in complete confusion. I couldn’t find my place.  I couldn’t find my loose leaf.   All I could remember was a tid-bit of my reading, so I recited it from memory, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace…”  That was all I could remember.  With a red face and shaking hands I scurried away to join my family in the pew. I was horrified. I didn't have the experience to attempt to hide that I had no clue what I was doing. But our dear Rector, just casually walked up to the lectionary, finished my reading, and carried on with the service.  Afterwards, she, and all my dear Church family were so positive, assuring me that it was a great first attempt and to not give up hope – next time would be better.  Much later, I found the humour in the experience and learned that even when you are prepared for something, things won't always go as planned.

I remind myself that we are all works in progress, never finished. We are all unique projects that can’t be compared to one another, but somehow compliment each other.  Yet, while we are developing and growing, we can encourage one another and let the God of hope fill us with His joy and peace.

The past year and a half has shown us we do not always have control over what happens around us. But we can control our vision for the future. We are fully in charge of our ability to be hopeful for the year to come, to find joy in places that may not be obvious, to love hard and to find an inner peace with the world around us.

Let us choose hope.

 

- Wendy Doherty

 


 


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