Moving is exhausting. Planning and packing and tying up loose ends and organizing and loading and transporting from one space to another depletes every last ounce of energy. On top of physical fatigue, the emotional toll is also great. Extensive farewells to people and place can bring deep grief. Life as we know it is changing.
At the same time, moving can be energizing. The anticipation of a new place and hopes for a new beginning can be revitalizing. Relocation to an apartment, home, dorm room or office becomes an opportunity to begin anew. Painting the walls, placing furniture in the right spot, hanging pictures, arranging knickknacks in coordinated locations, and making it “yours” helps to create a sense of place. Unpacking your stuff into a living room, office, or locker all begins to mark and define a space as unique.
We want to create an area and atmosphere that is pleasing and empowering, but also says something about who we are. Winston Churchill, speaking about rebuilding the House of Commons meeting chamber after it was bombed by the Germans said, “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” We not only build and decorate our places of living and working, but they go on to construct and fashion us.
So it is with our places of worship. Walter Huffman, in his book Where We Worship, says, “Christians assembled for worship are shaped, for better or for worse, by the worship spaces which surround them. Those spaces have a great influence on us, on our minds and attitudes.”
Certainly, that is true of “our place” on Tylersville Road in West Chester. What does this organized pile of brick, metal, and wood say about us as people of God? A welcoming gathering space for conversation, well wishes, and snacks shapes us into people of compassion and hospitality. A versatile fellowship hall accommodates everything from congregational meals to classroom spaces to living spaces for Family Promise guests. With gratitude for what we have, we share this space with the preschool and the VEIL Latino congregation, as well as Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, multiple recovery groups, West Chester Moms Club, and other community organizations. A modern sanctuary with a variety of instruments, prominent altar and baptismal font, and a variety of liturgical art surrounds us with images of creation, forgiveness, and grace that molds us into people of hope and leads us into service to others.
The season of Lent finds us on the move. These forty days between Ash Wednesday and Easter invite each of us to a new place. But where? How do we prepare? What do you need to unload before you move? Where is God leading you? How will you be shaped by this time and what is next?
Only God knows how you and I will be transformed during this time. The Lenten journey challenges each of us differently as God encourages us – prods us – to stare sin and death square in the face. In the cross, we see how Jesus Christ marked his place in this world. Through the cross, we see how he continues to reach out in love, telling all that there is room in his arms for all.
In transition,
Pastor Lowell Michelson
If you are looking for a Lenten devotional resource, here are some electronic options:
Our Southern Ohio Synod: www.southernohiosynod.org
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN: www.luthersem.edu/lent
Greater Milwaukee Synod: www.outreachforhope.org