From the Rector…
I’ve spent the past week (other than Sunday) at the beach. It has been a time of refreshment and renewal. It didn’t start out that way. It started with angst and frustration. And as the vacation comes to a close some of that angst is beginning to creep in again. But everything in between has been joy.
Beginnings and endings are often hopeful times but they are also somewhat anxiety producing. We anticipate the discovery of something new or the opportunity to revisit something we have appreciated in the past even as we realize some loss that accompanies the experience. As stressful as work can be and as much as we want to escape it to enjoy some down time, it still takes time to disconnect and rediscover life without all the pressures and responsibilities at the beginning of a vacation; just as at the end of the vacation, our anxiety begins to rachet up in anticipation of returning to work and rediscovering all the pressures we had so recently escaped.
It’s not just vacations that cause some disturbance in the force—new jobs, new schools, moving to a new town, a new puppy—there are all kinds of starts and stops and they can all cause some bit of angst. Sometimes the angst is minimal. It simply heightens our awareness and causes us to make adjustments that help us to successfully navigate the new thing. Other times the angst becomes more debilitating. We fret and grieve or doubt and fear—questioning our decision and finding ourselves in places of deep suffering.
The disciples knew this place of deep suffering after Jesus’ death and burial. They hid in an upper room trying to figure out what has happened and what they might do next. They are filled with angst—fear, doubt, and grief rule their hearts. What had been a hope-filled revolution of love seemed lost. In that place of despair, Jesus appeared to them and offered them a simple, yet incomprehensible gift—his peace. In the face of their doubts and insecurities, he did not offer the disciples answers or even direction, he simply said, “Peace be with you.”
In the midst of the Eucharist, after we have prayed for all the troubles of the world and confessed our sins, we are offered and invited to offer to others, peace. That “passing of the peace” is prescribed—you cannot not do it—in order to receive the body and blood of Christ. After communion, we are often blessed with the peace “beyond all understanding.” We embrace a posture of peace to partake of the sacrament and are then nurtured in that peace through reception of the same sacrament. It is as if the Prayer Book knows how important peace is.
Jesus doesn’t take away the pain or suffering of his disciples’ grief and confusion. The sacrament won’t wipe out every problem or conflict we experience. Peace is not about resolution—it is about safe passage. To navigate life and all its twists and turns—expected and unexpected—with a sense of peace draws us closer into the mind and experience of Christ. It draws us deeper into love. It allows us to release our need for control and resistance to the changes and chances of this life and open ourselves to the wonder and mystery of God. It doesn’t mean we won’t experience angst at times, but it might just mean we can enjoy our vacation from beginning to end.
Light and Life,
Candice+