Rev. Scott Taylor wrote in the Soul Matters theme packet on the theme of Purpose, “Wiccan and Witchcraft traditions see purpose and intention as the real magical power in any of their spells. Hindus don’t call it magic, but they treat purpose just as centrally. Purpose—or “rajas” as they call it—is the force that saves human beings from life’s primary negative force: “tamas”—their word for worldly depression. This tension between purpose and depression is seen as life’s primary battle and determines whether one is born higher or lower on the life scale when one is reincarnated.”
During the pandemic, your First Church ministers and staff prioritized helping our members find purpose and meaning. Finding purpose and meaning helps us through difficult times, including how trauma affects each of us in our particularity and all of us as community.
While we move carefully toward reopening in-person church, we might feel like turning a corner, leaving the past behind and with it our hard-won intentions. During times of major transition (like COVID reopening), we need to fine-tune our sense of purpose and live with even more intention.
People are joyful these days, yet vulnerable. We’d like to rush from the past to the future, but what about the present? What can we notice about who we are now and how we have changed? “We are still living in liminal times,” Rev. Jennifer said at our staff retreat. “The Before is behind us, the Not Yet is not here. We long for a return to normal, but we are different now.”
Friends, may we use the slower pace of summer to explore our particular individual purpose in life—life as it is now. May we set our intentions for our life as community—community as it will be. May we hold each other’s hopes and vulnerabilities gently.
Yours,
Dena