Happy New Year! Let the adventures begin. I like adventures. Wandering actually. The surprises always seem better that way. Maybe it is spatial intelligence, or a product of repetition, or more likely just dumb luck, but I rarely get lost. As Tolkien wrote, “Not all those who wander are lost.”

Knowing a few landmarks and having general sense of direction are helpful for wandering and enjoying surprises while not getting lost. As the people of God, we may start out on the adventure of this new year by first stopping and getting our theological bearings - our landmarks and direction. For this we turn to the foundational statement of the Christian faith for Episcopalians. While not a doctrinal church, not one that has a confession that requires assent for membership, the Episcopal Church does profess that the essential elements of the faith are found within the Nicene Creed. God is Father, God is Son, God is Holy Ghost. Jesus is God who became incarnate, died, and rose again. There is one holy, catholic, and apostolic church. You know this and more, I believe. It is not so much that the Nicene Creed explains what we profess but that it provides a return point to truths that are frankly beyond explanation. Explanations stand and explanations fall, but the truth of our creedal statements remains that firm foundation that keeps us from getting lost in our wandering.

“I believe in God the Father, creator of heaven and earth.” As I wander, I am grounded in the knowledge that God is Father, my father and Jesus’ father. Actually, he is everyone’s father. I know that, you do as well, and I hope that I and those I meet are mindful of that when and wherever we meet in our wanderings. Sure, siblings have rivalries, but all those people out there are kin. Maybe I should express more kindness and have a bit more patience with them like I try to have with those closest to me. I am also grounded in the knowledge that all I see and feel, smell, taste and touch are part of God’s creation. Lake Chatuge, Fire’s Creek, the Tusquittee range ... those are all made by the same God and they say a lot about whom God is. God is an artist and has produced a work of art to delight our eyes and to be our playground. And since it is all God’s, I am grounded in knowing that my wandering should not abuse creation, but rather include caring for creation. Lastly, knowing that there should be some family resemblance, I am grounded in knowing that as God is begetter-creator, I am meant to be a begetter-creator. So I wander and explore and find new things and come to beget new understandings of myself and God, and new ways of seeing and living. The nice thing is that I always know where home is. “I believe in God the Father.”

Have a Happy and Blessed New Year. Enjoy the journey and do not forget where you live.

Fr. Bill+