God in the Space Between Us

I have (already) called you friends!

 

It is hard to believe that 8 weeks have passed since I wrote those words to you and nearly 6 weeks since I began at Grace as Bridge Rector. It has been a joy to enter into the continually unfolding story of Grace for a time.

 

Since my arrival, which began just before the Shrine Mont Parish Retreat, I have witnessed a community that is filled with expectation for all that is to come. Yes, there is some weariness. There is residual hurt. There is some reservation and some skittishness. AND… Yes, there is also hope. There is excitement. There is generosity. There is an abundance of generative, life-giving energy. I have witnessed your commitment and intention to hold all of it – the breadth and depth of what is real for each of you – lightly and lovingly as a community. In the weeks and months ahead, I pray your story may continue to be one that bears witness to power of the ministry of reconciliation, the power of turning toward one another when the ways of the world would attempt to drive you apart, and the power of the presence of God standing in the space between.

 

The poet Pádraig Ó Tauma writes in “A Prayer for Reconciliation” that, “if God is to be found, God will be found in the space between.” I am grateful for all the ways God has been found in the space between us in this short and precious time together, and I pray God’s blessings on the many spaces between you – the many spaces between you in your common life, in your renewed mutual ministry with Mother Anne, and in all the ways you live your faith in the world. God bless you and keep you.

 

-Mother Abbott