Hope Rising

by the Rev. Nancy Christensen
Director for Evangelical Mission/Assistant to the Bishop

In thinking about what I might share in this, my last opportunity to blog as a member of our synod staff, I have found myself recollecting other times of transition in my life – times of endings, and of new beginnings – times that have shaped my faith, and my understanding of relationship.

I remember the fear I felt when I moved away from home after high school, and the deep sorrow I experienced after the death of my first marriage, and then my best friend. I hold dear the joys I have known in seeing my children move through so many phases of their lives – phases that have taken them away from me, and have held them close at the same time – phases that have formed them into amazing examples of God’s handiwork.

I think about what it was like to leave my last call – to step away from the heart of my heart at Epiphany Lutheran in Suwanee – to say good-bye, and to let go. And I remember the story I shared with them that still rings true for me today.

It comes from a book called, When the Heart Waits, by Sue Monk Kidd, and it references that sense of hopefulness that comes, even in the midst of change, and transition.

“It was the year that I discovered a nest of baby birds in the branch of a pine tree near my house. I visited the nest almost daily throughout the summer. One day as I watched, a young bird hopped to the edge of the nest and perched there. I seemed to understand even then that I’d happened upon a moment of utter rarity; the small bird was about to take what perhaps was its maiden flight. I braced, feeling my heart thudding in my chest. Come on, little bird. Come on. But the bird didn’t move. It seemed afraid, petrified. Suddenly the mother bird appeared. She gave her youngling a gentle push, and off it flew. The bird soared over the treetops."

"As I watched it fly, I walked on, hope rising in me. Hope for you and me and the journeys we undertake. Hope that we would trust our waiting hearts enough to risk entering them, that we would listen for the Voice that bids us come to the edge, and that we would welcome the gentle push of God, who is both our wings and the wind that bears them up.”

People of the Southeastern Synod, there is hope rising in me, too. We have all been changed in this journey of faith that we have shared, and I can never adequately thank you for the joy you have given me. In the new days ahead, we will all be nudged from our nests, and challenged to fly. Let us continue to pray for one another, and let us never forget the power and the presence of our loving God, who moves with us, and who guides us forever forward.