Last things

Almost everything I do around St. John's these days is 'the last time' I'll do them--last holy week, last Easter, last baptisms, last nursing home communions, last meeting of this kind or another--and even my last Vestry meeting.

I actually, unlike most priests I know, have enjoyed some 85% of all the Vestry meetings I've ever attended. It is the remarkable commitment of people willing to serve on a Vestry that makes the time together magic--that and the occasional breakthrough to consensus and the great good humor I insist on and often get and stuff like the time two vestry members were about to take their disagreement to the parking lot for some bare knuckles...stuff like that....

At the vestry meeting--with cake and champagne--one of the vestry members said something to me that makes me think perhaps my 20 years here were positive and good.

"You were the reason I came back the second time," she told me, 'but you're not the reason I stayed--I stayed because I love this place...."

Perfect. I get anxious when someone says something like "I don't know what we'll do without you", as flattering as that is in a ego satisfying way. I am humbled and honored to be the reason some people started coming--but the parish is what matters now, not me--no matter how much you love me...and I know you do...and I you.

Last things are strange and a bit emotionally challenging. And, as they come and go "next things" are what matter--for me and for the parish....