Jan Richardson continues to inspire and challenge me through her magnificent posts at the Painted Prayerbook.  Her insight about glory, allowing glory a place in our lives, is particularly instructive to me today.  She says, The story of the Transfiguration is about opening our eyes to glory, allowing that glory to alter us, and becoming willing to walk where it leads us (Painted Prayerbook).  This was an intense weekend from beginning to end.  All kinds of unexpected things have happened I’m still sorting out.  And today, my work is a funny and strange echo of the weekend.  My first major project with ECF is to develop a workshop that includes a section about the ways in which teams in a congregation must come together and define their work based on a process of discernment that allows the Gospel to inform, challenge and shape team members as individuals and team results as well.  In short, I am developing a 3 hour ‘mini course’ on discernment for lay+clergy teams.  What I am trying to do for myself, distilled and made as practical and accessible as possible.

I started my work early this morning, sitting at the desk in my new workspace.  The temperature is 78, we have low humidity today and a there’s a light breeze so the door next to my little office kept swinging just enough to make me aware of the weather.  I finally stopped, came out and just got washed over by wonder.  This is glory made manifest in creation.  Allowing glory into my life today meant moving my desk out here where I stop from time to time, allow myself to really breathe and abide with my work, the confusion and ambivalence, and sheer beauty of the day.