Our time together has been full. It has been full of joy, full of sorrow, full of wonder, full of questions. It has been full of the goodness of God and of our striving to grow and to build in God's name. And now the time is full.
I am full of love for all of you, full of hope for what God is doing at St. Luke's, in our community, and in our world, and full of joy in what the Holy Spirit has shown me in and through you. I will bring you with me wherever I go.
The time has come for a new season for me, and a new season for you. We are gifted in Minnesota to experience four full seasons in all their glory. Their heat and cold, barrenness and fullness. We know how to embrace every season for what it is, knowing that it will be short (except for winter, which lasts forever-JK.) I pray you embrace the season to come with all the joy that God has given you. Look back on our season together fondly, as I will, but don't dwell there. God is doing a new thing in my life and in the life of each of you, individually and collectively.
Thank you for the beautiful send-off on Sunday, and for the words of love and encouragement in this season and throughout our time together.
And now receive this blessing, these sending words, from the pen of the prophet, Maya Angelou:
"Continue"- Maya Angelou
My wish for you
Is that you continue
Continue
To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness
Continue
To allow humor to lighten the burden
Of your tender heart
Continue
In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter...
...Continue
To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing
Continue
To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name
Continue
And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally
* This is an excerpt. Please follow this link: https://english.duke.edu/news/poem-day-continue to read the entire poem.*
I am full of love for all of you, full of hope for what God is doing at St. Luke's, in our community, and in our world, and full of joy in what the Holy Spirit has shown me in and through you. I will bring you with me wherever I go.
The time has come for a new season for me, and a new season for you. We are gifted in Minnesota to experience four full seasons in all their glory. Their heat and cold, barrenness and fullness. We know how to embrace every season for what it is, knowing that it will be short (except for winter, which lasts forever-JK.) I pray you embrace the season to come with all the joy that God has given you. Look back on our season together fondly, as I will, but don't dwell there. God is doing a new thing in my life and in the life of each of you, individually and collectively.
Thank you for the beautiful send-off on Sunday, and for the words of love and encouragement in this season and throughout our time together.
And now receive this blessing, these sending words, from the pen of the prophet, Maya Angelou:
"Continue"- Maya Angelou
My wish for you
Is that you continue
Continue
To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness
Continue
To allow humor to lighten the burden
Of your tender heart
Continue
In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter...
...Continue
To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing
Continue
To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name
Continue
And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally
* This is an excerpt. Please follow this link: https://english.duke.edu/news/poem-day-continue to read the entire poem.*