From the Rector…
Our faith is not based on a set of rules, it springs from relationships. God’s very nature is that of relationship—that is what the Trinity is all about. Our triune God’s essence is relationship. As Christians, our call and commandment is to love God and love neighbor as self. In all that we do, we are to act from a place of relationship.
That can be difficult for us at times as we are brought up in a world governed by rules. Rules are easier than people. We might look for loopholes or live into the “letter of the law” but we can trust a rule’s concreteness. People are a little more fluid—we can’t always know what others are thinking or the motivation for their behavior—so prioritizing relationships over rules can be a little more challenging and even risky at times.
The joy of the church is that it offers us opportunities to learn to love and prioritize others over rules. When we are committed to developing and nurturing relationships with others, then, by extension, we build our relationship with God. Doris Day once said, “We can only love God as much as we love the person we like the least.” Challenging words. But the great thing about CoA is that we are always up for a challenge!
This past weekend we didn’t have to work hard to love one another or the stranger. We opened our doors to our community, inviting them in, and sharing a meal with them. Lobsterfest did not disappoint as it offered the expression of hospitality and kindled the bright fire of fellowship among us. That hospitality and fellowship are not only mirrors of God’s love for us but a deep and abiding way of being with God through our joy.
Our expression of fellowship did not simply extend out into the community this weekend, nor was it simply felt by those who were present. On Sunday, we remembered our friend Sam Doleman and dedicated the kitchen in his memory. In so doing we evoked the fellowship of that great cloud of witnesses that extends beyond our temporal and spatial reality. We reached out in love to honor one of those who has loved us so much. The dedication of the kitchen was touching not simply because of its sentimentality but in the joy that we are all connected-the living to the dead-through our relationships.
Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this year’s Lobsterfest the best one ever! I want to thank the Lobster Queens: Susan Copeland, Laura Walter, and Stefania Jones for organizing and promoting the event. It takes every single one of us to make Lobsterfest a success. Well done good and faithful servants!
Light and Life,
Candice+