Starting Up Again Mindfully

Starting Up Again Mindfully

As we grow closer to the end of summer, I have been fortunate to find several moments for reflection and appreciation for the many opportunities I have experienced to rejuvenate my spirit and slow down. 

If you are anything like me, oftentimes life is about the next goal, the next destination, or the next task. Slowing down during the summer months offers a refreshing and albeit rare opportunity to juxtapose the constant need to always be moving to the next point on my list. Summer is also a season of preparation in which we look forward to the future and the work that lies ahead. From my brief time at St. Luke’s I can tell that this community is always engaged in hard work and caring for others on a 24/7  basis. This trait is truly admirable and deeply needed for the communities that we serve. 

As we gear up towards our Start-Up Sunday on the 11th of September, we are in many ways beginning again as a community, paired with new faces, new hopes, and renewed energy. 

Undoubtedly, many of you are looking forward to engaging with fellow parishioners to share your visions for good works happening at St. Luke’s during our Ministry Fair following the 10 am service. 

While not a member of this parish, I too am excited to see the continued growth and strength of ministries happening at the cathedral. I believe that the strength of our ministries is vital to our identities as Episcopalians . This stems from how we support each other with kindness and active listening, both for those whom we serve, and those that we serve with. Acting mindfully and thoughtfully ensures that all feel heard and have the opportunity to succeed.

In speaking with our interim cathedral musician Ray Cornils this week about how we are called to live as an authentic and welcoming community, he noted his inspiration from this week’s offertory hymn, “For Everyone Born” by composer Brian Mann and text by Shirley Erena Murray. For Ray, the text speaks to the importance of welcoming and promoting all voices at the universal table, as is spoken in this week’s gospel reading. We are called again and again to extend ourselves beyond all labels and to love our neighbor. We are to continually ask ourselves how we can promote loving kindness to those that otherwise may not feel welcomed. That is our true identity and the love that we live into as our church. I found Ray’s thoughts extremely pertinent to the work that occurs at St. Luke’s every week. In turn, I remain incredibly grateful that this community promotes and reflects this message every day, both through active listening and hard work. 

As we move towards Start Up Sunday, I pray that we can come together as one community to support each other with kindness in efforts to continually strengthen and support all of the incredible work that occurs on a daily basis at St. Luke’s. 

My door is always open to each of you and I look forward to supporting you in any way that I can,

Avery Schott – Parish Administrator and Cathedral Communications Specialist