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December 16th.
2009
OVERWHELMED
I was not necessarily surprised when the crowd continued to grow as we
gathered on Sunday for our Annual Christmas Party and Potluck. We are a
social lot – and goodness knows we like to eat!
Yet, when folks started placing the pews in theater style around the
edges I became aware of just how large the crowd was. Then I began to
examine the faces. There were the regular 8 0’clockers, the 9
0’clockers, the 10 0’clockers, the Christmas and Easter crowd, the
Bishop and the Canon to the Ordinary, and then of all things a few
Lutherans! The crowd was just overwhelming.
Then whose idea was it to hand John Guarisco a microphone?! The robe and
the tiara were a little out of my style but it was good fun. The same
could be said about the parade of “roasters” who poked fun at my
aforementioned “quirks.” Yet, the really overwhelming part was the
incredible loving and kind comments. They spanned from Vicki Weaver’s
presentation from the children and our Bishop’s sense of loss in this
transition. With each passing speaker I felt my whole body feeling
heavier and heavier with an overwhelming sense of humility.
Countless times during the evening both in the presentations and to me
personally folks said, “ look around at this crowd” or “look at all
these kids” or “look at this beautiful building” - what a great job you
have done. I am overwhelmed by the suggestion…and am acutely aware that
it is not what “I” have done or even what “we” have done but rather what
we have allowed God’s grace to work through each and every one of us to
make happen.
That is why I have such an overwhelming sense of confidence in the ECOR
community. At our core we believe God has and will do incredible things
through us. The facilities, our ministry with young people, Team ECOR
and so much more are testaments to that belief.
As I stood there all alone in the dimly lit sanctuary, as I have
countless other times after another wonderful gathering at ECOR, I gazed
up first at the cross and then upward to the stain glass window and I
was overwhelmed by how loved and blessed I feel by both God and God’s
family.
Blessings,
The Rev. Brian N. Prior, Rector
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