Hi, I’m Bishop Brian. This past Saturday, I was in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where I had a chance to give a couple of talks to the Anglican and Episcopal seminarians at Duke Divinity School. One of the topics related to the idea of staying put in the Benedictine rule, the idea of the vow of stability to be centered and grounded in a place. It’s a value that has shaped much of my ministry and thinking. It was well received. And when it came time for some question and answers, the seminarians, many of whom were in their mid to late twenties, while they found the idea compelling, they admitted, I’m in my mid to late twenties and I’m going to be living here and then there and then there, how can I practice a vow of stability while being a person on the move?
And it really acknowledged that so much of the Christian life is a life we live in tension. Right? And I think all the more to think about what’s about to happen with us as we approach Ash Wednesday in the season of Lent. This past Sunday, we heard the Transfiguration story where Peter says, oh my gosh, you’ve had this incredible experience. We should put down roots and stay here forever. And Jesus says, no, we should keep moving.
So in many ways, with the idea of Lent, we often think about either I should give something up for Lent or, more recently, I should take something on for Lent. I would encourage you to think about Lent as a place that you take up residence for a while. That Lent is a place for us to be situated for a season. Knowing that as Easter approaches, then there’ll be a new place, a new season, which might involve physically moving or not. So it allows us to be, on the one hand, compelled with the idea of stability, but acknowledging many of us because of God’s call, because of God’s move, we find ourselves on the move. So not to beat ourselves up because of that, but to acknowledge the Christian life again is lived in a tension where we put down roots for a season, maybe for a long season, but we’re also open to the ways in which God calls us to the next place, the next thing, the next opportunity.
So join me in Lent, in taking up residence in a house called Lent and a place called Lent together, allowing God to speak to us for a season in this place. In this time. Amen.