ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
September 23, 2021
In the Episcopal Church, the Presiding Bishop is Michael Curry. At a recent meeting of the Bishops, he used the “narthex” as a sort of metaphor for where we are. The “narthex” is a church term for the lobby outside the sanctuary of a church building, a sort of middle space between the sanctuary and the outside. Curry said, “We are living in a narthex moment, between the world we knew and whatever is being born.” I like the image, and it struck me as I was sitting at the dentist’s office on Monday. I was waiting for a root canal, but I waited much longer than I was expecting. The dentist wasn’t sure if the root canal was going to work, and so there was this unknown as I sat there in the lobby. It may not be the best illustration, yet I think most of us have experienced a time of waiting, amidst great uncertainty. In Philippians 1, Paul writes about being confident in the One who has done a good work, and this One will find a way of bringing that good work to completion. The pathway to that completion is rarely without complication, and often leaves us waiting. It sort of feels as if we are waiting for God to call our number, our moment to join the new thing God is creating. Yet because it is an unknown, it is not always the most comfortable of waits.
O God, I am here, listening for your voice. As we all wait, with some feeling of uncertainty, provide us the hope of a new day born out of your transformative love. Amen.
