True North

To the People of God,

Earlier this week I had the pleasure to attend the monthly Diocesan Clergy call. During that call various important dates are shared, announcements that affect the diocese are made, and there is always time to share what we are doing in our own lives. The question posed to us from Canon Stephanie Allen was this: “What practices are you doing to help ground you through this Lent? How are you experiencing God this Lent?” Rev. Bill Thomas, retired, shared how he is spending his Lent. I thought that this was a brilliant idea so I am sharing this with you. He showed a graphic of a compass, almost similar to the Anglican Compass associated with the Anglican Communion. A compass gives us direction. A compass guides us to unknown destinations. Sailors and lost souls have used the compass to find their way home for hundreds of years. All maps are laid out the same with the true north at the top of the map. It is easy to get lost if one follows the magnetic north due to the slight variations in this field. One degree off and you can land in a very different place. For example, my first experience of using a compass was as a participant in a navigation scuba diving class. If I didn’t set my compass to true north, I would never make it to the chosen destination and back because I would follow magnetic north and end up in a very different place… LOST!

The idea of using this metaphor in Christianity makes sense. True North, at least for me, is Jesus. It is in the center of the compass and is found deep within me. It is from the True North that I can then ground myself and move outward along the navigational points through my day. Rev. Thomas suggested that the image of a compass can also be used as an illustrative diagram for us (Disciples of Christ) to be “illuminators of the Word.” How are we illuminators? How do we move throughout day(s) telling the story of Jesus? Witnessing the Good News to all with whom we encounter? One way is through story-telling. So, I ask, “What story comes to mind that helps bring your sense of self to be that illuminator of the Gospel?”

Blessings,

Rev. Anne