The Life of a Parish
I am fascinated by deliberate, defined communities. There are whole spectrums of community, some are easy to discern because they are so ‘other’ compared to our day-to-day norms and I am endlessly riveted by them: different flavors of orthodoxy, groups who define themselves through their rejection of our societal norms, groups who just are of other places, languages, beliefs…I love them all. But it is almost too easy to see them for their difference. It is harder to see, really ‘see’ your own community because it is SO easy to take the day to day for granted. That is unfortunate, really, because we deprive ourselves of the chance to understand ourselves but also see ourselves in a context which both acknowledges our intrinsic worth but also how very unique we can be. The day to day moments of an Episcopal Parish are made up of amazing occasions of care, empathy, vulnerability, grace, hope, aspiration…all of it. These are images mostly drawn for the religious life of a small parish in Maine…in all of their specialness. I always think of the idea of the decisive moment, a lot of these moments are smaller than that, but in their simple repetition they become the building blocks of connection, connection with self, family, community, history, time. In those connections there are big ideas, substantial knowledge, belonging...all starting with wisps of space between two hand and a piece of bread, in watching eyes, listening ears and memories stored for another day.