Turning Over A New Leaf

Call me “old fashioned” but I still use a desk calendar to keep all my appointment straight. I gave up my electronic calendar a long time ago. The pen is always compatible with the paper; I never have to worry about an Apple pen not working on my Microsoft paper. I find it’s just easier, for the time being, to have everything I needs to know, in terms of appointments, in a desk calendar.

There is a real sense of joy and accomplishment moving from an old calendar into a bright, crisp, unspoiled new one. The desk calendars that the Church produces overlaps the month of December, so I got to move into the new one at the beginning of the month. Turning over a new leaf has a sort of literal meaning if applied to a new desk calendar.

I have a stack of calendars going back fifteen years, except for the two years I used an electronic one. I can tell you, more or less, what I did on any date you name. Not that you will ask and not that it matters, but it was important at the time. Calendars are about now and the future; where we have to be now and tomorrow.

The beauty of the calendar is that it reminds us that every year, month, week, day and hour is an opportunity to turn over a new leaf. It is an opportunity for us to do better, freed from yesterday’s burdens and mistakes. What’s more, this is a gift from God. God is the one who blesses us with a clean page, a clean slate, to start over again.

The Wardens, Parish Council and clergy of this parish are committed to turning over every new page with a renewed sense of what God is calling us to: a love that is marked by forgiveness, love and justice.

If it is true that some of us have been hurt and frustrated by St. Paul’s Church over the years. Now is the new day to deal with it. We need to hear about these things so that we can respond in ways that are helpful with moving us forward. You are asked to make an appointment with me and the Wardens before January 31, 2011 and let us know about your hurts and frustrations. If you want to talk about these things in a confidential way then pastoral care is offered by the clergy of the parish. In February 2011 there will be a service of Reconciliation and Healing for the whole congregation.