Centering down, carrying on, and communicating the story
In mid September I traveled to the Covenant Offices in Chicago for our annual Serve Globally (SG) staff meetings. I am privileged to work with such a passionate and dedicated team of friends and colleagues. In the beginning of our time together we took time to seek to slow down and open up to God’s leading for SG in this time. For many colleagues, especially those living in Chicago, there is a lot of grief and sadness around the current situation in Chicago and other cities in the U.S. around the treatment of immigrants and refugees. Through listening to one another in response to a guided prayer time, three phrases were identified as invitations in this present moment.
The first is center down. In a time where there is so much happening, so many impressions that clamor for our attention, we felt the invitation to center down in Christ, and intentionally step out of the “traffic” that can crowd our hearts and minds, and rest in Christ’s presence.
The second phrase is carry on. There was a collective sense of gratitude for so many projects and initiatives happening in SG, and that the invitation in this coming year is not new initiatives but faithful stewardship and attention to what is already happening.
The final word, was a word of hope for all of us. Communicate the story. Though there is much to grieve in our world today, God is still at work, everywhere, and in countless ways. We felt compelled to tell the story of how we are seeing God at work, in different places around the world, and close to home. The hopeful message we felt is that God is not absent. God is here with us, in the pain and the joy, continuing to bring all things to their glorious completion in Christ.
I left this meeting feeling hopeful, that there are so many people working for good, that God is at work, and each of us can join in with with our whole hearts, trusting that our lives and this world are held in God’s hands.
