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New Beginning

 

            When I typed the title of today’s inspirational message, I laughed and then wondered, “can I really say new beginnings?”  Is there such a thing as an “old beginning?”  I don’t know the official answer and had no interest in a quick research to make sure I was correct.  I do think there are beginnings of something that has never happened.  By definition those would be “new beginnings.”  And there are beginnings of something you have done many times before.  For example, every new semester is a beginning.  But I certainly have done many, many semesters in my life.  In that sense they are not “new.”

            So today I began to reflect on a new beginning.  I have often participated on search committees to find new personnel to fill job opportunities.  I have been on searches for new coaches and new college presidents.  I have helped look for new faculty and new administrators.  I have assisted in searching for new pastoral leadership for churches and the list goes on.  What I realized is the fact I never thought too much about it.

            I have just finished another search.  This time it was for a person to join my team.  I realize most people will not the use the language of team.  They will refer to the new person as a secretary, which is quite fine.  That is a noble and laudable career choice.  Some of my best friends and most talented people are secretaries.  She will do things for me and with me.  Many others will benefit from her efforts.  She will make us all better.  She has not yet done one thing for me and I am already thankful.

            I don’t want to focus on position and function.  Of course, she has a different position and, thereby, different function than I do.  That is why I like the language of team.  She is joining a group of us and will have her own role to play.  If she plays it effectively, she will be very valuable.  And key to all that is relationship.

            It the relationship which she, I and others on the team have just agreed to and are now establishing.  It is a new beginning.  The search process began with a flood of people who wanted the job.  And that is usually how it is put: we had a job and many others wanted it.  I am sure many of them could have done a decent job.  But we actually needed more than that.  We needed a teammate---one who could imagine engaging me and some others and forming a relationship.  Let me elaborate why relationship is crucial.

            We really don’t think about it much, but it is imperative that I be able to trust her.  And of course, she has to trust me.  Trust is core to relationship.  I have to trust that she will be fair.  In my book I deal with fairness as an issue of justice.  So I need to trust that she will be fair.  Finally, I want the relationship to develop so that she is satisfied and happy.  Those qualities are more a result of relationship than specific job.

            So what does this have to do with spirituality?  I think it has to do with spirituality in a couple ways.  In the first place I understand relationship is core to spirituality.  On many occasions, I have said that spirituality has to do with lived experience.  It is not just ideas---ideas of God, etc.  It is lived experience.  So if she and I do relationship well, it will be a kind of spirituality.  There will be trust, justice, care, and most of the other virtues.  She will be a good person and we will be helping each other become even better.  Good relationships are nurturing and growing.  Bad relationships…well, we all know where they go!

            But it is a new beginning.  Not one thing has been done; not one thing has been achieved---no victories and no defeats yet.

            Secondly, all this focus on relationship suggests that this is a great way to understand how Jesus went about the process of calling disciples into the work of the Kingdom.  In fact, some of them would be secretaries---scribes, we call them.  I suppose in one sense Jesus was the boss.  But that image does not really describe who he was and how he functioned any more than “boss” fits me.  I prefer to see Jesus building a team---a team of disciples to inaugurate the Kingdom.

            Personally, I don’t believe Jesus knew everything about those he was calling into relationship when he simply said, “Follow me.”  He knew he would have to trust them and hope they would be fair and do their share of the work.  He must have known, however, that they were human and, therefore, not perfect. 

            Spirituality is not about perfection.  It is about relationship.  It is about developing relationship to get the job done.  Spiritually speaking, the job is life enhancement.  It is a quest for meaning and purpose.  It is about love---the ultimate aspect of relationship.  All human relationships ultimately can be spiritual in this sense.

            It is always exciting to engage new beginnings.  I look forward to my new teammate at work.  And I always look forward to new teammates in the spiritual journey of my life.

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