Seasons Change

I have been in full-blown INFJ recharge mode for the past several days. My grandpa’s death & caring for family trailed the closing ofEikon Church, and brought the full reality of end-of-life care into gritty perspective. I get to reenter routine tomorrow, and I am quite pleased to return to some degree of normality. During my days of rest, my mind has turned again to the process of life transition. Leading up to Eikon’s final Sunday, one of the discussions we had was on managing transitions, and I realized I never shared my notes here. I think the transition, the journey after the change, is more important than the change event itself – so I share these notes to remind me, to remind us all, that change is slow, change is difficult, but change is unavoidable & it can lead to beautiful things. Please insert your own life season/transition:
 

Opening Meditation/Prayer:

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something
unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through
some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances
acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ

Read Joshua 4:1-9

Joshua – standing stones
Facebook timeline – milestones
Communication theory – turning points
David Bowie – ch-ch-ch-ch-changes
Brandi Carlile – linesupon our faces 

                                    LIFE TRANSITIONS

We’re going to map some of these major life events, marking the standing stones of both positive and negative moments that have brought about change in our life. At the end of your map, draw a decent size circle & we will do something with that at the end.

·         What outstanding questions & concerns do you have about Eikon’s transition?

·         Do not force yourselves through this transition

                  -        some of us will need the routine of plugging immediately into another community

-        some of us will need a season of Sabbath, of rest & renewal

·         Look at some of your past transitions:

-        What has delighted you most in life? (joys)

-        What has disappointed you most in life? (pains)

-        How did each change affect you emotionally during the transition?

-        How did you experience growth through the transitions in hindsight?

·         Transition is a time to both grieve & reexamine:

-        We need to give ourselves and each other permission to grieve what we are letting go of (both what was and what might have been)

-        We need to give ourselves and each other permission to experience the sadness and anxiety that can come with leaving our comfort zones and stepping into something unknown and challenging

-        We also get an opportunity to reexamine our present way of being & even create new beginnings.

·         What are your fears, doubts & uncertainties surrounding the closing of Eikon?

·         What are you angry or frustrated about?

·         What are you hopeful for stepping into this new season?

·         What experiences from your time in the Eikon community do you hold sacred?

·         What is the legacy you want to carry with you into your new experience?

·         What are the things you need to leave behind?

·         Where do you want to go from here? What are your intentions for the next season of your journey? 

HOMEWORK: Take your lifemap home with you and think through it some. What questions or concerns do you still have outstanding about our transition from Eikon? The circle you drew at the end represents your future, particularly in terms of your church life. Inside the circle, fill it in as a sort of pie chart – think about your commitments & priorities in your life at this time. Fill in the pieces based on those commitments & what percentage of your life they demand. Then draw some spokes going out from the circle. At the end of each spoke, list a value that you would be looking for in a future community – what gifts will you bring into that community, what kind of support will you need from that community, what do you want to participate in through that community?