Welcome home! It has been absolutely wonderful to welcome you back to Epiphany and to see your smiling (although masked) faces on Sunday mornings. As we get further along in our in person services, I look forward to seeing many more of you.
This past weekend your vestry, for the first time in over a year, met in person in a day and one-half long retreat. It is hard to believe, but two-thirds of the vestry has mostly met via Zoom, so it was a wonderful time to connect with each other and with Father Nick. Part of our time together was to get reacquainted with and to learn more about each other. In one of our exercises, Father Nick asked us to speak about our own core values. That was challenging. Have you ever thought about your core values, have you ever expressed them to others? Thankfully, we had ample time to think about it and could bring a prop, an item that reflects our core value or values.
After pondering this question, I realized that I value beauty. At first I was reluctant to share this value because it seems superficial, but as I reflected more I recognized that it really is one of my core values and it runs deeper than surface beauty. The beauty that I value is the splendor of God’s creation in the natural world; the magnificent mountains, the exquisite color and detail in a garden, how the light reflects over the water, the musical range of bird songs in the morning. All of these things remind me that God’s love is everywhere, it strengthens my faith and brings me joy. When I have joy in my heart, I am better able to serve God and others.
I am not alone in valuing beauty, for centuries humans have built sacred spaces, from simple outside worship gardens to magnificent cathedrals filled with artistic masterpieces, in which to glorify God’s creation. This is the ministry of our Property Committee, parishioners dedicated to keeping our own sacred space lovely and functional; let us pray for them.
Returning to core values, what are your core values? What are the core values of the Parish of the Epiphany? I look forward to the opportunity to have this parish-wide discussion; in the meantime, enjoy the beauty of this day.
Yours in faith,
Suzanne Owayda
Warden
