Beloved Is Where We Begin

Dear Ones,
The beginning of a new year is WILD.  Wild as in fun, and overwhelming, and stressful, and full of opportunity.  Wild as in the wilderness where Jesus was tested – full of learning and stretching and temptations galore.

But before Jesus entered the wild, he was reminded of who he was, and Whose he was.  After his baptism, God bellowed from the heavens, “You are my Son, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

You are about to enter a new wild and wooly year.  It will be a time of growth, and exploration and relationship building.  You’ll take risks, and fail.  You’ll discover new things about yourself – some of them which will make you proud.

As your pastor, my prayer for you is that in the beginning, middle and end, you know yourself to be beloved, by the One who created you, the One who redeemed you, and the One who sustains you on this journey.  Listen to God’s words for you:

“You are my child, my beloved, with you I am well pleased.”

We need each other on this journey.  Our website and weekly email is full of ways that you can get to know other students in our community who are walking in the wild, right alongside of you.  Say yes when you can.  Join in the good work of community building.

Whether these are your first days on campus, or you have the home stretch in sight, we hope we get the chance to meet you!

Pastor Kate
A blessing from Jan Richardson:

Beloved Is Where We Begin

If you would enter
into the wilderness,
do not begin
without a blessing.

Do not leave
without hearing
who you are:
Beloved,
named by the One
who has traveled this path
before you.

Do not go
without letting it echo
in your ears,
and if you find
it is hard
to let it into your heart,
do not despair.
That is what
this journey is for.

I cannot promise
this blessing will free you
from danger,
from fear,
from hunger
or thirst,
from the scorching
of sun
or the fall
of the night.

But I can tell you
that on this path
there will be help.

I can tell you
that on this way
there will be rest.

I can tell you
that you will know
the strange graces
that come to our aid
only on a road
such as this,
that fly to meet us
bearing comfort
and strength,
that come alongside us
for no other cause
than to lean themselves
toward our ear
and with their
curious insistence
whisper our name:

Beloved.
Beloved.
Beloved.

—Jan Richardson
from Circle of Grace