Weekly Clergy Letter from Mother Anne Turner

Dear Friends in Christ,

 

We all want to “make haste to Bethlehem,” to hurry to the manger.  Hurry, it seems bring the operative word.

 

I see that my schedule for the coming weekend includes three parties in two days, as well as baking several dozen cookies, grocery shopping for the holiday, and bringing up Christmas decorations from the basement.  I know many of you have schedules that are even more full.   As a culture, we collectively race pell mell towards Christmas.

 

My invitation to you in this week is not to look towards the place where you imagine yourself going.  It is to look where you have already arrived instead.

 

At the beginning of Advent, I wrote about the challenge of being present in this season.  That challenge feels more pronounced—not less—as we get closer to Christmas day itself.  We require more clarity and equilibrium to resist the undertow of commercial culture and the busyness that accompanies it.

 

I hope you will find that clarity and equilibrium here at Grace Church.

 

At Grace, your clergy strive to create a place of holy encounter—a place where you may meet God in silence, in prayer, in pageantry, in tender stillness.  This is a place where you may adore God, and where you may feel God’s adoration of you.

 

Consider giving yourself the gift of an intimate liturgy at the Lady Altar.  We celebrate Saint Thomas there on Saturday, December 21 at 8:30 a.m., and then we celebrate Saints Stephen and John, as well as the Holy Innocents, on December 26 and 27 at noon and December 29 at 8:30 a.m.  These services last less than half an hour but feed the soul for days.

 

Or (if you like your holy encounters on the more extroverted side), come for the Greening of the Church this Sunday, December 22, at 6:00 p.m.  The Greening is totally different from the chore of decorating your own home.  It is a chance to discover God in conversation and camaraderie as we weave the magic of beauty in this place.

 

Come to the manger.  You don’t have to race to get there.  Come take strength from your church and know yourself present with the God who has been present with you all along.

 

Yours in Christ,

Anne+