As this week has unfolded, a main concern of many of us is being ready for the weather ahead, namely the threat of snow and ice. For some, it is purely a personal issue of having sufficient heat, clothing and food. For others, it is a managerial concern for the workplace, and for those who manage or lead communities of faith, it is a question of the safety and wellbeing of personnel, volunteers and attendees.
When I began in pastoral leadership, there was one primary issue — whether or not we would cancel worship. For most of the time, the answer was no, because if I could physically come, it didn’t matter how many could make it or not. Following that would be questions of making the building and entrances accessible.
These days, however, it is more complicated, because we have volunteers and staff who, with more age, are more likely to be hurt by a fall. Even more so, the ability to livestream or to send out prerecorded worship has made the question more complex. During the Covid pandemic, many of us gained the ability to broadcast to the internet, and while that means that worship does not need to be cancelled, but redirected, it also means figuring out how to record, what to record, when to record, and what to do with the recording.
In other words, increased capability has led to increased complexity, which is no surprise. It is wonderful to have, for instance, 20 different cereals to choose from, but it takes more time than it did when there were only four or five choices. Besides, in the days or four or five cereals, we didn’t have social media “influencers” who told us what was wrong with all of them!
However, increased complexity does not change the fundamental question: Are you ready? Hopefully, with age can come wisdom and the ability to deal with greater complexities, but with wisdom and compassion can also come the ability to make things simpler. Whether being ready refers to getting married, holding worship, facing your own mortality or having a difficult conversation with a difficult person, being ready is key. Being ready does not mean having everything sorted out, planned out and orchestrated, although that is a great feeling. It simply means we are capable of dealing with what is immediately ahead of us.
The Rev. Brian Sixbey
As you may note, I am not actually worrying about this weekend’s worship in this article. I am not trying to get you to adopt a method or come up with a plan. I am trying to say to you and to myself, that to be ready is to be connected. If I am not connected with my leaders and people, I cannot be ready for how weather may change things. If I am not connected with spirituality, then no amount of readiness will make a difference. If I am disconnected with myself because my fears, doubts, worries and troubles have overcome me, then no plan will sort that out.
One of the images that I use frequently when thinking about following Jesus is the cross. Jesus said that we are to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, which is the vertical bar — my connection with God and God’s connection with me. Jesus also said that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, which is the horizontal bar — my connection with other people and their connection with me.
What Jesus has done for us was to repair the connections, to repair our connection with God, with others and with ourselves. He taught and demonstrated it, through preaching, teaching and healing. He demonstrated and accomplished it through his death and resurrection. And Jesus has instituted it in the body of Christ, the church.
What I am suggesting is this — being ready is being connected and grounded. It is not a fixed or static state of mind or being, but a fluctuating, living and breathing identity we manage and entrust to God. In a less complicated way of saying it, to be ready is to be faithfully connected to God, to others and to self. If I must outdo you, put you down or prove you wrong, I am not faithfully connected. If I must justify myself, condemn myself or deny my human nature, I am not faithfully connected. If I have no need of grace or redemption, then I am not faithfully connected. If I am disconnected, I am not ready, no matter what plans I may have in place.
On a basic level, we can see the truth of connection and readiness in that it does not matter how great the plan is, if the people who carry out the plan do not choreograph it together. This is what can happen following a disaster when shipments come in with supplies, but no one is around or available to see that the supplies make it to anyone. But this is also true on an eternal level: If I am not connected with God, why would I want to be part of God’s kingdom? And if I have no connection with others, why would I want them to come along with me?
Whatever your plans are for bad weather, good weather or life in general, stay connected to the source of your spirituality and with the people in your life, and you will be ready. We need each other, and we need the grace and forgiveness God offers.
The Rev. Brian Sixbey is pastor of First United Methodist Church in Hampton.
