Wednesday, February 01, 2012
Wednesday Festival - One Year
Sister Kim, who blogs at Consider the Lilies, observed this week the one year anniversary of the day she made final vows in the Society of the Sacred Heart. Join the festival in the comments here or on Kim's blog with words of support or your own thoughts on special anniversaries in your ministry.
I don't know if it is everything that has happened in the course of this last year or something else, but I have to say that it feels like much more time than a year has passed since thirteen of us made final vows in Rome...But, whatever it feels like, the calendar says Yes, today is the one year anniversary! 30 January, 2011-30 January, 2012.
I have reflected much today on what the "forever" of my ring means to me...and the wearing of my profession cross. And I realize yet again and also anew how deeply their significance touches my heart...that they are profoundly important symbols to me...symbols of what I want my life to say and more than say, to proclaim.
I want my life to proclaim something of the fullness of Love and the complete welcome that God has for everyone. I want my life to proclaim its roots in God...roots that are woven around me as a nest that moves with me as I walk this journey with Jesus. I want my life to proclaim in my actions my own readiness to respond to the call of God... the call of God to fly--to go, to see, to touch, to smell, taste, hear, to create, to share, to walk in freedom-- the call of God to love as God loves, to listen, to live my humanity, to integrate, to teach, and to be taught by others, to go beyond; the call of God to walk, arms open wide, straight on, deeper and deeper into the Heart...with others...deeper and deeper into a more just world; deeper and deeper into a Love that challenges and draws me forth...deeper and deeper until discovery and revelation meet in the bend and become whole, one...
Thank you, God, for the gift of my vocation, for the life you have given me to discover and reveal your Love, borne in the heart of Jesus.
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What a beautiful description of your vocation Sister Kim. I was just sitting savouring the delight of a day expressing my own vocation in companioning others as they seek a deeper and fuller life in Christ. Your words both challenge and comfort me. Blessings on your journey.
ReplyDeleteSorry, I didn't mean to post anonymously at all! That was my comment just above.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that struck me about this point, or got me thinking was the part about the symbols - Sister Kim's rings and cross. My 10 year ordination anniversary is coming up this year something I am very aware of, but doubt my congregation is, probably not even my husband although he was an elder who was part of the laying on of hands even though we didn't really know each other yet. Anyway, I don't think I'll make a big deal of it because it feels like tooting my own horn. I've been trying to think of ways I could mark it myself, though. I wish I had physical symbols or markers to remind me of that day. My ceremony did not involve putting a stole on me like I thought it would. That's what I had heard would happen and I had one all picked out for it, but the folks on the commission never brought it up, neither did my head of staff, and I was too timid to say anything.
ReplyDeleteLove the image of the nest that travels with the one who journeys in Christ...
ReplyDeleteI think these anniversaries are very important. We can't count on others to notice them, but it is possible to plan for a personal, annual observance. When I was a child, I envied my three adopted siblings because they, in addition to their birthdays, each got a special celebration on their "airplane day," the day they traveled to become part of our family. I wanted a similar day of reflection and eventually chose the day I returned home from a work/service/study trip. My family laughed at me, but it has become an annual day to check in with myself and remind myself that the choices I make along the way are worth celebrating. Once I'm ordained, I intend to incorporate that anniversary in a similar fashion!
Sister Kim, what a beautiful reflection. The word "integrate" struck me, I'm working on balance and healing a disconnect.
ReplyDeleteMy ten-year anniversary is this summer, and I am still serving the congregation whose call ordained me. I am planning some sort of celebration, perhaps a joint service including the second congregation I now serve, with a breakfast after. I think it's good to recognize significant dates, and to celebrate them as community. It's not about me but the ministry we do together.
Thank you, thank you everyone! The response and the wide spread readers this reflection has occasioned speaks volumes to me about the goodness of celebrating our vocations, whatever they might be! Celebrating, claiming the depth and strength of, honoring, enjoying... Truly, I am humbled and grateful for your comments and the reflections and stories of your own that have been offered! (And thankful to a dear friend who is the one who said--Would you please post this? after I read to her from my journal!)
ReplyDeleteSister Kim,
ReplyDeleteI was away at BE5 when your meditation was posted. It was 40 years ago this summer that I entered the Ursulines in New Orleans. It is still a special date for me even though I am no longer in the order or even in the RC church. What I couldn't discern then was that my call was to the priesthood and was finally ordained 11 years later as an Episcpalian.
But I still hold that moment in my life when I was able to turn my life over to Christ and the formation in prayer, fidelity, obedience and transformation as precious.
I too wear a cross and a ring to remind me of the power of the promises I made. Over the 40 years they have become rather worn and so have I. But the promise that they represent is still as sparkling as when I first slipped them on.
Welcome to journey.
Congratulation