The ball drops. The calendar page turns.
January is our annual reminder that time keeps on
slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future.

January is when we look back and reflect on all that has been.
All that has been gained. All that has been lost.
All that has been missed. All that has been grasped.
Faces that used to be right in front of us fade a little more into
memory.

And then we turn and look forward to the year, the life in front of us.
We look at the road stretching out in front of us.
New challenges. New opportunities.
Faces that someday we will not be able to imagine life without
linger just beyond our vision.

And just for a moment, we pause.
Between what has been and what is to come.
And we ask ourselves:
What has brought us this far on the way?
What do we need for the journey before us?
And the answer remains the same.
Love.
Love.
Love.

People come into our lives …and people depart.
The new becomes familiar …and the familiar grows old
…and the old makes room for the new
And we grieve. And we welcome. And we remember.
What has brought us this far on the way?
What do we need for the journey before us?
Love.
Love.
Love.

Life promises us nothing. Life owes us nothing.
So much of our life is the chance of the circumstance into
which we were born.
And yet regardless of that circumstance…
Regardless of what the road behind us has been…
Regardless of what the road ahead of us holds…
God promises us one thing.
Love.

God gives Godself to us … in love.
God gives us to each other … in love.
God binds all creation together … in love.

Love is how we can heal from whatever has been in the past.
Love is how we can live with whatever challenges exist in the
present.
Love is how we can face whatever changes are coming in the
future.

Every Sunday we gather around the Eucharistic table and share
the bread … and the cup … and the story.
We and God lay our whole lives on that table
We give ourselves to God and one another.
We remember that God does the same.
And then we receive a piece of bread. A sip of wine.
A reminder that we are never alone.
That we have God. That we have each other.
That we are bound together. Forever. In love.

I do not know what the year to come will hold for us as All Saints Church.
I imagine there will be heartbreaks and goodbyes
I imagine there will be happiness and hellos.
I imagine there will be changes that will cause some of us to
mourn and others to rejoice.
I imagine there will be opportunities that we will grasp and
others we will miss.
We will have crises and we will have blessings
We will hurt each other and we will hold each other

And every week, we will come together
And receive a piece of bread. A sip of wine.
A reminder that we are never alone.
That we have God. That we have each other.
That we are bound together. Forever. In love.

It is January. And just for a moment, we pause.
Between what has been and what is to come.
And we ask ourselves:
What has brought us this far on the way?
What do we need for the journey before us?
And the answer remains the same.
Love.
Love.
Love.

====================

PHOTO BY TAGGART LEE
Mike Kinman is the rector of All Saints Church. “The Answer Is Always Love” was originally published in the the January 2019 issue of Saints Alive — our monthly magazine.