I hope you’ve found all three pieces in this Easter Companion to be enriching and thought-provoking. Did you notice Bishop Glasspool’s definition of transition in her sermon? It’s a crossing over, she writes, “moving from one stage or state of being to another. In music, when a musician changes keys, it’s called a modulation—a word that sounds infinitely subtler and softer.” That’s a lovely way of describing at least some of the transitions in our lives. She does go on to note that many of our transitions are sudden and sharp, coming without warning, without time to reflect and prepare. I have in mind people across the Southeast, especially among our neighbors in Alabama, who are mourning the loss of family and friends, homes and schools, in the wake of last week’s storms. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Around this place, our transition time between rectors continues to move and shift in mostly gentle and subtle ways. At least, that’s what I see and I hope it’s what you are experiencing. It feels to me like we are modulating. We’re trying a few new ways of doing things, listening carefully for feedback, while continuing to open the doors of our hearts to each other and the community.

We’re learning more and more about each other, reflecting on our life together over the past few years, wondering what God has in store for us as we move forward with hope.

One of my hopes is that you will make an effort to be in the parish hall on May 22 for another “Sacred Conversation.” It’s a wonderful opportunity to share with each other some thoughts about the big transition we are all experiencing as well as the multitude of transitions that give shape to all our lives.

On the Second Sunday of Easter, we heard again the gospel story of Thomas and his friends encountering the risen Jesus. Can you imagine that evening, one week after the Resurrection, as a transition, a modulation from one way of knowing Jesus to another? I wonder how that story might color your experience of transition during this Easter season?

Faithfully,
Allan+

The Reverend Allan Sandlin,
Associate Rector
Holy Trinity Parish.