Remembrance and Hope in Parting

Humans--and probably many other animals--have a remarkable capacity: memory. Of course, prior to memory is that billions-of-years-old capacity, perception. We perceive things and bring them into our minds, that is, we bring representations of them into our minds. Then when those things are not present, we can remember them by accessing that representation of those things. Memory can be useful to help us avoid bad things or to seek out good things that we've encountered before. Sometimes memory is a trauma we carry from our past, but often our memories are of a pleasant time; we carry that time with us, and they bring back good emotions we've had in our past.

Helen Hoyt, a past editor of Poetry Magazine, wrote a poem called "Ellis Park" in 1913. Ellis Park is a small park she walked through on her way to work. "Little park that I pass through, I carry off a piece of you." As she sees and hears the things in the park, she takes them into her mind. Then, later in the poem, she says that when she is gone from the park, she remembers the little park and by that memory can transport herself there. "I take your trees, your breeze, your greenness, your cleanness . . . Your fountains take and sweet bird calls to sing me from my office walls."

For Paul, it was not a park, but the people. To his friends, in Philippians 1:3-4, he says "I thank my God every time I remember you, constantly praying with joy in every one of my prayers for all of you." Though he is apart from them, he remembers them. He remembers their faces, their quirks, maybe their smells. He remembers striving and overcoming obstacles with them.

His remembrance happens in times of prayers. I think this is significant. I think we were created by God in God's image, and that means that our capacity to remember is a characteristic of God's capacity to remember. In the very center of the story of the flood, when the waters had reached their peak, it says, "God remembered Noah." When Paul was away and praying, he was remembering his friends in Philippi, but I think he was also in the presence of God as God was remembering with Paul about the time he spent in Philippi. Paul was remembering, but Paul was also participating in God's remembering. As Paul and God remembered together, Paul felt joy. He took memories with him from Philippi and those memories brought him joy. All that to say that in Pauls Valley, I have learned your faces and quirks, I have worked alongside you overcome obstacles with you and accomplished things with you. My memories of you will bring me joy when I am apart from you.

I take a piece of you with me, like Helen Hoyt. She says, "All that I can see, I carry off with me. But you never miss my theft, so much treasure you have left." In Boy Scouts, we used to say to take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints. When we take memories, we do not reduce the thing we will remember. Hoyt does not reduce the little park. I do not reduce you by taking. This shifts the focus from remembering something in the past to anticipating something in the future. Hoyt anticipates that the park will still be there for herself and others, even though she has taken so much from it. It also shifts the focus from remembrance to hope. Paul hopes that the Philippians will continue to thrive in the community that he's left. I do too. I hope that you'll continue to worship and work together in our congregation, that you'll continue to love one another and love your neighbors.

In Hebrews, it says, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for." Paul's hope is based on his faith in God, that God will continue to love and provide for and protect the people that God loves, that God will empower them to thrive. In First Thessalonians, he sees that their faith has come "in power and in the Holy Spirit." It is the Holy Spirit that empowers us to live out our lives of faith and love. I know the Holy Spirit is here among us--among you. I see your faith, and I have faith in God that God loves you and has blessed you and continues to bless you. Paul's faith in God and in the Philippians lets him know that "it is God who is at work in you, enabling you to both will and work for his good pleasure."

I have been on an emotional roller coaster since turning in my resignation. In certain ways, there is a lot of stress in the job of solo pastor, and I look forward to a season of less stress (AFTER the move, of course). Mary and I are excited to live closer to our daughter, and all the new exciting things that we can't even anticipate in Baltimore. At the same time, I keep turning around and seeing something or someone else that I will miss sorely when I go; I will take you all with me in my heart, not in memories only , but also in my prayers as I remember you all in joy. I am also excited for the next chapter in the life of this congregation. You are empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish far more abundantly than you can ask or think (Ephesians 3:20-21). God has plans for your good, and somewhere out there is someone who is ALREADY called to come and do ministry with you. They probably don't know it yet. You don't know them yet. I'm excited for you to get to meet them and for them to get to meet you and for the things you'll accomplish together. This hope I have for you is because of the faith you have and the faith we have in God, and because of the faithfulness God shows us.

I love you all. I will remember you with joy. I have hope for you. That hope is grounded in and assured by our faith in God. I'm excited for you. I will miss you.

Blessings,

--Chas