For such a time as this.
This month, when my Community of Practice (COP) peer support group met, our morning prayers and reflection came from the fourth chapter of Esther:
“When they told Mordecai Esther’s words, he had them respond to Esther: “Don’t think for one minute that, unlike all the other Jews, you’ll come out of this alive simply because you are in the palace. In fact, if you don’t speak up at this very important time, relief and rescue will appear for the Jews from another place, but you and your family will die. Who knows? Maybe it was for a moment like this that you came to be part of the royal family.”
It started a meaningful conversation within our group of faith formation leaders. We reflected on the exhaustion of wanting things to return back to the way they were before the pandemic…. the good old days when we could meet together without a second thought as to whether or not we were six feet apart. When we could embrace one another after a loss or share in another person’s joy. When we knew how to do our jobs without all of the hurdles of technology, internet, and bandwidth.
I share this reflection by Cathleen Starck Wille that was shared because it has helped me to refocus and stop complaining about the current situation we are all living in. We are, after all, children of God. We know that God shows up. We know that God gives us opportunities within our situations to make even a small difference. A single act of love and bravery mixed together has the power to transform into hope and hope makes all of the difference…
CALLED FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS
By Cathleen Starck Wille
There are people who have pointed out that during this pandemic many of us feel like we are standing on a threshold, the point in a doorway where we pass from room to room, where we no longer are in the room from which we have come and are not yet in the room we are moving toward. This poem by Jan Richardson (below) may be appropriate for this season of COVID. It is an Advent poem. And no, we haven’t lost it – we are not yet in the season of the church year that celebrates Advent in anticipation of Christmas. However, I do think there are many similarities between Advent time and this pandemic time. Advent is a time of waiting. Are we not on the threshold of this pandemic time waiting for the next door to open? This time on the threshold, this in-between time, can be described as a liminal space. The practices during Advent include a time of introspection and contemplation. Is it possible that during this time we are being invited to a time of introspection and contemplation in this liminal time as we wait to move into the next room, the next phase, the next season?
Those of us who are “doers” will say, “Introspection and contemplation are not among my spiritual practices.” This probably would explain the frustration we “doers” have been experiencing during this time. Many of the things we have done in the past are not possible to do and stay safe. We have been forced to find new ways to “do” things. But after the house has been totally cleaned, purged of items that go to Goodwill and the yard is ready for the next season, it is no surprise that “doers” feel helpless during this liminal space in which we find ourselves.
In the biblical story of Esther, we hear about a young Hebrew woman, who felt helpless during the time of need for her people. She did not choose her situation; a king had chosen her to be among his many wives. She did not choose him. She found herself in a place in which she never had been before. Besides this, her people were being threatened. She and her uncle were concerned and wondered if there was something she could do to save her people. They had tried several things, but because of their status in life, they were rendered powerless to do anything. As the story progresses we find out that, even under the threat of being put to death, she risks a new behavior. She would not be the beneficiary, but her actions could save her people. As she contemplated her decision, she came to the realization that she “was called for such a time as this.” She did step forward, risked her life, and was able to save her people.
Haven’t we been called for a time such as this? That thought is both frightening, but also exciting. Our current circumstances have robbed us of life as we knew it and it has happened by no choice of our own. We are aware that, going forward, the future will not be the same. Times of uncertainties be can disorienting and feeling like we have no control. However, it also is a time we can set aside our doing, set aside our busyness, and engage in wonder. As we wander through this unknown wilderness, what we do know is that WE have been called for such a time as this. We have the opportunity to take the risk and try new behaviors. The new behavior may be to spend time in introspection, contemplation and give ourselves the space to wonder about what is on the other side of the door.
Hopefully, this poem can be a guide for us as we anticipate the next door that will open.
Blessing the Door
by Jan Richardson
First let us say a blessing upon all who have entered here before us.
You can see the sign of their passage by the worn place where their hand rested
on the doorframe as they walked through,
the smooth sill of the threshold where they crossed.
Press your ear to the door for a moment before you enter
and you will hear their voices murmuring words you cannot quite make out
but know are full of welcome.
On the other side these ones who wait –for you,
if you do not know by now –understand what a blessing can do
how it appears like nothing you expected
how it arrives as visitor, outrageous invitation, child;
how it takes the form of angel or dream;
how it comes in words like ‘How can this be?’ And ‘lifted up the lowly’;
how it sounds like in the wilderness prepare the way.
Those who wait for you know
how the mark of a true blessing is that it will take you where you did not think to go.
Once through this door there will be more; more doors, more blessings, more who watch and wait for you
but here at this door of beginning the blessing cannot be said without you.
So lay your palm against the frame that those before you touched
place your feet where others paused in this entryway.
Say the thing that you most need and the door will open wide
and by this word the door is blessed and by this word the blessing is begun
from which door by door all the rest will come.
Peace and love,
Marsha
