I ended my last post with the statement that “We will eventually emerge from this time and find that we are different people.”

In this blog, I’d like to pick up on that thought.

If vulnerability leads to a new openness and ultimately to transformation, what does that look like?

Let me start by addressing what I believe it is not. If it is genuine, if it is truly authentic, if it has any integrity at all, Christian transformation is not just a spiritual awakening.

It begins that way, but only as a means to an end. Birth, including the rebirth that Jesus talked about and St. Paul wrote about, is by definition a transitory experience. I was born on October 13, 1953. That is the date when my life in the outside world began (thanks, mom!). Birth always leads to something else.

Still, it is essential to transformation. If my vulnerability during this time of testing leads to a deeper interaction with God then this can become much more than a time of trial. In fact, this could be a defining moment in our relationship. Maybe not like “I was blind and now I see”, but more like “I have glasses, and I can see more clearly”. The blurry becomes focused.

With transformation comes energy. Think back to the most spiritually powerful experiences in your life. They were exciting moments. Some may have been overtly religious; a retreat, a Cursillo, a conference, prayers for healing, confirmation, a wedding or baptism. Others may have happened in solitude or surrounded by the indescribable wonder of nature. They may have emerged quietly over time or suddenly as a surprise, but deep inside, in the part that we know as the essence of who we are, in that inner spirit, something undeniable happened. A fire was lit, light emerged…you knew that you were not alone…in some unexplainable way there was God….and you were different.

The privilege of being a Priest and pastor is the opportunity to see this awakening in others and in some small way, to share in their experience. When that happens, it makes all the administration, Vestry meetings and Diocesan Conventions , setting up chairs and wrestling with Sunday bulletins worth it! This is what animates and gives vitality to a spiritual community. Without it, we are simply “going through the motions”. It is what brings tears to your eyes when you sing to God. It is why you are so happy when someone joins the church or is baptized or Confirmed. It is why we have this weird thing we call Sermons week after week….maybe, just maybe…we’ll say something that will open the door, start a fire, turn on a light…..

So……dream with me for a moment. Imagine what it could be like if God redeemed this time, this experience, this isolation …….and it became an awakening, not in general, but for you. Now that the calendar is empty, the pace of life has slowed, and the tyranny of obligations is removed, when what we know as “churchiness” is banished, in the midst of stillness and isolation, in keeping our own company, and alone with God; What if we took the road less traveled? What if we made an intentional choice to open our emptiness to the fullness of God?

We would be like sleepers who awoke from a dream. A new people with a renewed passion. New values, new priorities, a new purpose await. Love is fresh again. We embrace life with spectacular thanksgiving. We cry easily, we laugh abundantly, we love without reservation. We rise each morning anticipating a new surprise from God. This is authentic transformation. I am closer to becoming the person my dog thinks that I am; more compassionate, more loving, less self preoccupied, a better human being with new devotion to God and those around me. Other people, both friend and stranger, become precious. I see the image of God where I was once clueless. I am more open, embrace differences as I learn from them and long for more opportunities to love and be loved. No one is a stranger. There are no aliens. I am an ambassador for change.

But this is just the beginning. Transformation, as I said earlier is empty, meaningless , and self serving unless it compels us to do something else…to live our lives in a new way; to embrace without reservation the most radical part of Christian discipleship; to follow Jesus in actions and not just words. To take up His ministry in our world.

Imagine what that would look like….

More to follow…..