Complete Nov. Newsletter :)
First Churches of Northampton
Hi All,
Please disregard last newsletter attachment. This is the polished version. Thanks.
Andrea Marion
Church Administrator
The First Churches
129 Main St.
Northampton, MA 01060
Todd Weir
Hello everyone, sorry that the
Pastor's Message got cut off somehow in the pdf. version.
Andrea will fix it tomorrow, but here is the full version of the
article in case you were stuck in the middle.
Peace,
Pastor Todd
The
sun broke through a week of rainy days, so I got on my bike to
enjoy the Fall
before it fades into winter. Riding
on
the bike path towards Look Park was like passing through a
radiant amber
archway of enclosing branches and leaves.
I stopped to take a picture and to be mindful of the
present
moment. Looking down the
streets I
wondered if this is now my home.
After
living in Poughkeepsie for 20 years, my first three months in
Northampton have
felt like a sabbatical. It
is like being
gone to summer camp, experiencing the lively downtown culture,
meeting new
friends, riding bikes for the first time since Jr. High, hiking
through the woods
to visit our lot of weeds on Hospital Hill.
Jeanne and I immediately fell in love with the Pioneer
Valley. But as the
locusts began mournful evening
songs and the leaves fall, it feels like an end. Do I have to go home now or
is this my new
home? The Northampton I
fell in love
with-thriving Farmer’s Markets, fresh tomatoes and basil for
dinner, followed
by listening to outdoor sidewalk bands-has faded away. The future is colder as I
envision trudging
through snow and wonder how to insulate the drafty windows at
our
apartment. I loved the
Northampton
summer, so why does it have to change?
Where is home now?
This classic song by the Byrds (adapted from Ecclesiastes in scripture) floated into my reverie:
To
Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)
There is a season (Turn, Turn, Turn)
And a time to every purpose, under Heaven
A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones, a time to gather stones together
If everything is changing, what makes a place a home? There are days I really miss not only knowing everyone’s name, but also their phone numbers and even their life history. I knew how to respond to most situations because I had been enmeshed in the community for two decades.
Standing on the bike path, I realized that home was not my raspberry patch in Poughkeepsie or the network of friends and colleages. Home is not a place, or an address. It is a path, a way of being. Home is standing firmly on the ground, seeing the Cathedral of oaks and maples and knowing that God loves me. “My soul is restless until is rests in thee.” Home is wherever Jeanne and I build it. Home is where I am loved. It is anywhere and everywhere as long as God dwells somewhere nearby. Things will always change, but I still have a permanent domicile in the heart of God.
We are all trying to find the way home. You may have been a member of First Churches for years, yet filled with the loss of many beloved members, missing the way things were, wondering if the good old days of filled pews can ever return. I also see quite a few new people who, like me, are building a new home and exploring First Churches with fresh eyes without the past. Many of you have literally seen the church roof fall in. You have lost a beloved pastor. Some feel betrayed by a staff member who embezzled funds. Some were hurt by conflict over the Arts Trust conversation. There is much to grieve.
If you are reading this, First Churches represents home to you in some way. It is your spiritual abode not because it stays the same, but despite the changes. It is home despite things not always going according to plan, even when we are disappointed or hurt, or if we don’t know anyone yet. Whether you have worshiped here for a day or for eight generations, it is home because it is the sanctuary of God. God is still speaking here. You experience a calling here. You are loved. There is a time to every purpose. Let us then turn…turn…turn…and perhaps it is a time to “gather stones together.”