Turn on the Light: A Reflection on Community Rule #19

The Mid-Week Missive is based on Community Rules: An Episcopal Manual by Ian Markham and Kathryn Glover, both administrators at Virginia Theological Seminary. I am working my way through this book, reading and writing  through the lens of our Life Together as part of the Christ the King Episcopal Church family, as well as part of the Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. 

Rule #19: Don’t Hide the Mistakes and the Problems. Markham and Glover’s reflection on this rule can be found in their book, which can be purchased here. 

How does this rule apply to our Life Together at Christ the King? In their reflection on Rule #19, Ian Markham and Kathryn Glover say, “Christian community is one that expects mistakes and expects problems. There is a temptation to hide the mistakes and hope the problems will go just away. They do not. The honest and most helpful way forward is to come clean: to identify the mistake and describe the problem…Honest early on can create better and more attractive alternatives for resolution and forgiveness.”  

The season of Advent is an excellent time to practice the holy discipline of being honest with ourselves in such a way that we do not feel like we need to hide our shortcomings, mistakes, or problems – as individuals and as a parish. Like Lent, Advent is a good time to “take inventory” of what is going well in our lives and in our parish what needs some work. There is no shame in being imperfect. Only Christ is perfect. As we begin a new year in our church calendar, how might we have the courage to begin naming and claiming our mistakes? This practice is not for the sake of beating ourselves up or pointing fingers. This practice is for the sake of taking a positive step on our journeys towards reconciliation with God, others, and ourselves.