From Here

Ministerial Meandering

From here?

So I’m asking a local I met on the road; I was travelling in a horse-drawn gypsy caravan along the roads of southern Ireland in the mid 1960’s; “Can you tell me the way to Kinsale?” I asked him.  “Well, sure I can,” he replied.  He then gave me some rapid and rather confused instructions involving recognizing various signposts and trees and pubs and bends in the road, and he finished by saying, “But I wouldn’t start from here, if I was you.”

That was wonderful advice - but not entirely practical.  We have to start from here, wherever ‘here’ is for us.  And, unless we are totally obtunded, this question will encompass a protean field of possibilities; geographic, physical, spiritual, social, emotional, political, educational, employable, health -  indeed, the holistic gamut.

But not all of us are asking the way to Kinsale.

Kinsale represents a destination that we wish to attain, and the path we tread to reach it will most likely be different for each of us.  And so, too, will be our starting point.  There are those within the parish who must start with a physical handicap; arthritis, respiratory disease, cardiac problems, cancer, a recent fall, significant depression, difficult relationships, poor vision, impending deafness - I could go on, and you could probably add plenty more yourselves, but the problem is that we have to start ‘from here.’

It also means that we must start out with reasonable expectations, and find people and means to make the journey.  I am suggesting that this is your spiritual journey through the season of Lent, therefore it would be of little value to rent a snowmobile to get across from a desert island to the safety of the mainland; snowmobiles have little in the way of floatation assets.

Thus, to travel the Lenten path should be one of expectation, harnessed to appropriate hope.  Do not trust in those who would whip you and tell you how bad a sinner you have been!  That is probably the strident rasp of your conscience anyway - making you feel unworthy and of no account.  Sure - go grab your horsehair shirt and cilice, and wail as you whip yourself - you’re in good company - Luther did just that.

But it denies the saving power of the cross.  What was Jesus’ sacrifice for - if not to take away the retribution and punishment for our sins?

‘From here’ means a journey up the hill for sure; a journey that is not going to be easy to make, as it is a time of soul-searching and inward reflection.  But it is also a time to recall the turning of Jesus as he ‘set his face towards Jerusalem’, to take the only path he could to redeem us.

‘Oh, I don’t need all that - it’s just a load of hooey anyway!’

Unfortunately for you, it’s not.  You just haven’t taken the time to do your homework and actually research the facts and the evidence.  If you bothered to do that, I venture to suggest that you would be not a little surprised by what you found.

So perhaps for you, the ‘from here’ is from a state of agnosticism or even atheism - or perhaps just blind ignorance.  That would be sad - because you have an amazing opportunity to explore the Easter message by engaging in our Lenten services - whether in person or on zoom.  From wherever you may be right now - the path awaits you.  What are you waiting for? - this is your written invitation!

Philip+