Moving In

            I’m guessing that if you asked Ithacans about the word “ambivalent,” many of you would cite “moving in” weekend as an example.

It marks the beginning of the school year and the prelude to the church program year.  It is a horrible tangle of traffic and confusion and confused people, but it is also the go signal for why most of us are here in Ithaca one way or another: students.  It is kinda cute to see all the new arrivals, so young and green and optimistic and naïve, but it is also a pain in the hindquarters for residents.  Having been the cargo handler for two of our own, including our daughter moving to and then within Boston, I sympathize with the parents and returning students, but also have flashback of moving into the freshman dorm at Hamilton College way back when.  And for lots of us, the exciting beginning of school is the sad end of summer.  Yep. Ambivalence.

Yet for most of the arriving souls, it is beginning.  It is discovery.  It is new things and people and experiences.  It is bubbling with possibilities and new growth.

This is for many a time for moving into faith communities, and for faith communities, like the larger community of Ithaca to welcome in those folks, to scoot our chairs over to make a place at the kitchen table for new relatives.  Some will be cute and naïve, others well used to church life, some young, some older, some alone and tentative, some with families.  It may be easy to get annoyed by the changes, by the additional people in town or in our pews, but just as Ithaca exists to nourish many, many minds now descending, so churches exist to nurture new souls arriving. 

We may have to wait while someone unloads a sofa in traffic; the big choice is whether we get annoyed and seethe new ulcers or stay patient and realize someone is in a new part of their life’s journey.  We may have to be gracious to new souls attending FCCI for the first time; the choice is to welcome them in Christ’s name and with Christ’s hospitality and love.

Most of us are very willing to help the new folks moving in this weekend get settled and tell them where to find helpful things.  Let’s remember to share also with them the helpful things our congregation can offer and help them get settled in our spiritual community.  Let’s go that extra step and invite newcomers moving in to join us here, too!

                                                                                                  

                                                                        In Christ,
                                                                    
                                                                               David

Texts for Sunday

 From the Hebrew Bible        Jeremiah 1:4-10
 From the Gospels                Luke 13:10-17