{"id":1879,"date":"2021-10-26T14:27:39","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T14:27:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.presbyterianmission.org\/weekly-offerings\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2021-10-26T14:27:39","modified_gmt":"2021-10-26T14:27:39","slug":"are-we-there-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/centernet.pcusa.org\/weekly-offerings\/2021\/10\/26\/are-we-there-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"Are We There Yet?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

(Samuele Errico Piccarini from Unsplash)<\/p><\/div>\n

By William McConnell<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

When I was a child, my family took frequent weekend trips from Charlotte to visit longtime friends in Lemon Springs, North Carolina. Lemon Springs was (and is) barely more than a dot on a map and a wide spot on the road, but my sister and I knew every traffic light, turn, ice cream shop and landmark along the way. It took two hours and 15 minutes to make the trip. (Two hours and 30 minutes if we stopped for ice cream in Biscoe.) We knew exactly where we were starting and exactly when we should arrive. But regardless, there would still be the questions from the back seat, \u201cAre we there yet?\u201d \u201cFive more minutes\u201d was usually the reply. (Some of those five minutes were awfully long!)<\/p>\n

As we approach month 19 of a global pandemic that has upended virtually everything we thought we knew, we find ourselves asking the same question. \u201cAre we there yet?\u201d Unfortunately, there are two problems with that question. We don\u2019t know where \u201cthere\u201d is, and if we are completely honest with ourselves, we aren\u2019t entirely sure where \u201chere\u201d is, either.<\/p>\n

Recently, I was fortunate to participate in a deeply insightful workshop by Susan Beaumont, author of the book \u201cHow to Lead When You Don\u2019t Know Where You Are Going.\u201d In our time together, Susan led participants in exploring liminal space \u2013 that in-between time when organizations have chosen or been forced to leave their comfort zones, but when they haven\u2019t yet arrived at their new reality. She clearly and poignantly reminded us that the pathway from \u201chere\u201d to \u201cthere\u201d through liminal space is not now, and has never been, direct. Among her many salient points was an underlying question, \u201cCan we really know where we are going if we don\u2019t know where we are?\u201d We probably knew where we were on March 12, 2020, the day before our worlds shut down. But on March 13, 2020, the upheaval of a national shutdown disrupted our foundations to the point that we don\u2019t even know where \u201chere\u201d is anymore.<\/p>\n

How do we move forward? How do we find \u201chere\u201d and begin to define \u201cthere\u201d? How can we know if we are there yet?<\/p>\n

God has given us resources to help us redefine our \u201chere\u201d so that we can begin to see a path to our \u201cthere.\u201d Hymns, songs, Scriptures, prayers, spiritual practices and locations that were anchors before March 2020 are still available to us. Even though the ground under our feet has shifted, our internal anchors \u2013 our solid rocks \u2013 are still intact.<\/p>\n

What are our anchors? What are the gifts we have received through our lives, and even through these past 19 months, that we can give back to ourselves and to those around us that reorient us to our new \u201chere?\u201d<\/p>\n

Are we there yet? Probably not by a long shot. But can we begin to answer, \u201cHave we found here yet?\u201d Here\u2019s hoping and praying that we are on that path.<\/p>\n

As a musician who finds great comfort and strength in the congregational songs of the church, I often find my anchor in hymns, both old and new. One of many I learned in childhood that still provides stability and comfort:<\/p>\n

When darkness seems to hide his face,<\/p>\n

I rest on his unchanging grace;<\/p>\n

in every high and stormy gale,<\/p>\n

my anchor holds within the veil.<\/p>\n

On Christ, the solid rock I stand<\/p>\n

All other ground is sinking sand.<\/p>\n

All other ground is sinking sand.<\/p>\n

(\u201cMy Hope Is Built on Nothing Less\u201d \u2013 Text by Edward Mote c. 1834 Public Domain) Glory to God #353<\/p>\n

William McConnell, CFRE, is a Mission Engagement Advisor for the Presbyterian Mission Agency serving the Central region of the United States.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By William McConnell When I was a child, my family took frequent weekend trips from Charlotte to visit longtime friends in Lemon Springs, North Carolina. Lemon Springs was (and is) barely more than a dot on a map and a wide spot on the road, but my sister and I knew every traffic light, turn,… Read more »<\/a>","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":1880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[86],"tags":[3342,2613,2612,3339,3341,3340,1925,1939,3338,2230],"class_list":["post-1879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giving","tag-anchor","tag-glory-to-god","tag-hymnal","tag-leadership","tag-music","tag-my-hope-is-built-on-nothing-less","tag-north-carolina","tag-pandemic","tag-susan-beaumont","tag-william-mcconnell"],"yoast_head":"\nAre We There Yet? - Where Your Heart Is...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"How do we move forward? How do we find \u201chere\u201d and begin to define \u201cthere\u201d? 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