On the Minister's Mind
with Rev. Laine Morgan
This week between Christmas and New Years Day is always an interesting “in-between” time for me. I am not quite finished with the old year, and the new one hasn’t yet begun. Typically, I clean house and put away holiday decorations, and I also intentionally take some time to journal about the year that was. In addition, I look for some fresh perspectives to guide me across the threshold into the new.
Lynne Twist is an author and spiritual teacher whose wisdom I seek. Her perspective always seems to be spot on for me. Recently I read a paragraph that I will share in this last week of the year as we are in this unique opportunity for closure. She wrote –
“Honorable closure is a process that allows you to free yourself from the past. You pay homage to what was brought into existence - the human effort, devotion, and dedication that it took. You assess the learning that occurred and forgive yourself and others for failures or transgressions. You can then stand on the shoulders of the accomplishment, and from there you can take new territory. Honorable closure generates a big open space where new opportunities start to show up with nothing lingering, nothing hanging over, nothing incomplete." - Lynne Twist
Thinking about the year that our spiritual community had, I want to pay homage to everything we created together! It has been a magical year! We accomplished a lot of great things. There have been so many of us dedicated and devoted to CSLTB – especially our practitioners, board members, and key volunteers – giving endless hours of their time and talent to our collective experiences.
Following Lynne’s words, I also want to forgive myself and others for those moments when we were less than perfect in our words or actions. What I know is that all our hearts are in the right place. Our souls are anchored in the truth that we are all One. There are no failures in Spirit, only lessons to keep learning. I declare that nothing lingers and nothing hangs over as incomplete about this year.
I claim that we stand on the shoulders of the accomplishments of this year as we complete these final few days! We have a big open space in front of us in 2024. There will be new opportunities for each of us to grow, evolve and learn together in Sunday lessons and conversations and classes. We will greet new members in the year ahead. There will be new opportunities to volunteer and serve others. Spirit has much in store for each of us, and when we bring that blessed energy together, we can create another magical year as a community!
Make this a personal process in your own life this week and pay homage to those who contributed to your accomplishments this past year. Forgive yourself and others so that you can stand before the big open space and be ready to claim new territory! May your final days of 2023 prepare you for our time of release on Sunday as we participate in an honorable closure.