On Love

by emilie boggis

I entered seminary days before the attacks of 9/11. I was all of 26 years old. 

It seemed a harbinger of ministry to come. “Get ready, seminarians,” it cried, “for a ride of constant change that will challenge you to rethink almost everything and, too often, break your heart.” 

In 20 years of ministry, my heart has been broken more times than I can count.

A friendship formed in the aftermath of the towers falling resurfaced last Spring. She emailed me a job description at LeaderWise with a note: “This is an amazing organization.” 

I perused LeaderWise’s course catalog, mouth agape, at the offerings that would aid my own development and the congregation I served. Our leadership, from professionals to volunteers, felt ill-equipped to deal with the constant change. It seemed we were failing more than succeeding. 

In this season of waiting, do you feel like you are failing your call and your people more than you are living it out?

Fear not, change is not the only constant. There, in the course catalog, I discovered another constant: the grounding love of God. It was written in the description of CrossForm, a foundational leadership immersion course. As an aside.

Isn’t that often the way of things? When change is before us, it’s all that exists. We cannot perceive that there is something more. Or that Spirit is with us. On the longest night of the year, we forget about the blessing of daylight. On the longest day of the year, we miss the gifts of night. 

bell hooks reminds us to access love in the midst of change. A love that is ever incarnational, always relational. She invites us to choose love over fear and control. We cannot control change, but we can control our response to it. Don’t let fear, she encourages, block us from accessing the Love that is also in our midst. 

As darkness and light coexist, so does change and Love. We have to rewire our vision to hold the constancy of both. When change is paired with Love, we can receive it as an invitation to become. Not an invitation to rid ourselves of our faults. Change paired with Love is an invitation to become grounded in our relationship with the Sacred. 

When change is before you.
As your body shakes with fear.
Breathe: you are not alone.
Vision clear. / Listening deeply. / Heart a-beating.
How is God acting in this moment of change? In me? In us?
Breathe: We are not alone.

Fear not, beloved, for change AND Love are woven into the fabric of Life itself. As you look towards another year of life and leadership in the midst of constant change, how might LeaderWise help you choose love? You are not alone; we are with you.