Two people are given the news that they’ve lost their jobs. One is handed a pink slip and ushered out the door. The other is given six week's notice, an appreciative send-off party, and a good severance package. Both people have lost something important to them. But only one has a sense of closure.
A compelling book is only as good as its ending. Two in a relationship that say, “Let’s still be friends,” will have to work at it to make the transition. Closure is important. Things can just come to an end, or they can end well. And when things can end well, there’s room for healthy beginnings.
Part of ending well must be telling the truth, being honest about what’s happened, how it’s affected us, and where we intend to go from here.
Soon we’ll be coming to the end of 2009. The end of a decade. Incredible! I’m sure the world around us will be coming up with all kinds of lists: the best of this and the worst of that. And maybe we’ll even do some reflective truth-telling to find some closure… and to look forward to new beginnings.
The faith community known as by the way has travelled through its two-and-a-half years with many endings and beginnings. We’ve often used the word, “organic” to describe ourselves and our way of making transitions from one phase to the next. The old ideas and resources become the compost for the new seeds that are sprouting. We keep flowing on, shaping ourselves to the changing circumstances, according to where we see God is leading us.
This Thursday by the way will be marking an ending and a new beginning. Two things are coming to an end: 1) our pattern of weekly worship at the Crowne Plaza, and 2) our goal of becoming a congregation that’s rooted in one local scene. And what’s springing forth from this rich soil that is our past? Some new patterns and some new goals! I won’t go into the details here, but I will say that I am confident that the Spirit is leading us to make a broader impact on this world this God so loves.
So this week we’re working on some healthy closure and looking forward to what God’s going to be up to next. We’ll dig into a story from Jesus’ life that has us facing up to his time of endings, that time when he looked like he was a washed-up loser whose glory days were over. But the reality could not have been more different. The new life was only just beginning.
Take a peek into the last chapter of Jesus’ life, where we see the “powerless” Jesus on trial before “powerful” Pilate, the person who could sentence him to death, or not. If he had any sense at all, Jesus would be on his knees begging for mercy. Instead, he’s standing tall calmly trying to teach Pilate a thing or two about true power: the power to tell the truth. The power to look beyond this world’s power and see God’s kind of power at work. Read it here:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2018:33-37&version=CEV
There’s so much more to say about Jesus’ radical kind of power — power FOR others instead of power OVER others — and the amazing beginnings that come for all of us who follow this strangely powerful leader. Please share any thoughts you may have on closures and new beginnings, truth-telling and empowering, by clicking on “post a comment” below. Come, if you can, to the Crowne Plaza (at exit 8 in Nashua NH) Thursday 7pm. And come back to the blog at week’s end for more.
Reaching closure for now,
Kari
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1 comment:
I am a firm believer that God does not close one door without opening another. Those new doors can have many different appearances and sometimes we don't recognize them until much later. My life has had many of such occurrences.
I wonder which person in your first paragraph actually had the sense of closure. I have been in both situations - but without the severance package. I suppose my husband Steve has been in the latter. I did not have closure for a few years and still wonder if I have closure yet. It all stemmed upon my feeling that after over eleven years of dedicated service to a company, they could not see fit to give me a severance package. That was very hard to take, emotionally. I don't think I've recuperated yet emotionally and financially from this.
So I currently wait - and eagerly look for that new door to be opened.
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