Tired of Farewells

Today saw two very good friends say goodbye to me and to others, the one a colleague at work, the other some one who has become a good friend in interfaith work in Kansas City. 

My workplace has seen a great many departures over the past year, and each time is more difficult than the one previous.  Today's departure has been the most difficult for me because I worked closely with this person and she became a very good friend in addition to a trusted colleague.  Her time at the diocese spanned seventeen years, a wealth of experience she shared with everyone who worked with her.  She is reamining in Kansas City and will use her many talents to help a fellow Catholic institution in the city.  The Church is fortunate to retain this talent in some way.

I've grown tired of saying goodbye to people who have left for clearly brighter shores and happier places of employment.  I've grown tired of losing friends whom I will no longer see on a daily basis, learn from, and share with.  And I've grown tired of the root cause of people leaving for greener pastures.  No doubt this sentiment is shared throughout the diocese regardless of one's spirituality, liturgical preference, or theological school.  At the end of the day what ails us is not about any of that.  The family is in pain and we need to heal.  We long for closure and resolution, but the dark clouds remain. 

In the midst of this pain, today's feast day and the second reading from the Office of Readings provides some consolation and comfort:  It is from a letter of Thomas More from prison to his daughter Margaret:  "I will not mistrust him, Meg, though I shall feel myself weakening and on the verge of being overcome with fear.  I shall remember how St. Peter at a blast of wind began to sink because of his lack of faith, and I shall do as he did:  call upon Christ and pray to him for help.  And then I trust he shall place his holy hand on me and in the stormy sea hold me up from drowning.  And if he permits me to play St. Peter further and to fall to the ground and to swear and forswear, may God our Lord in his tender mercy keep me from this, and let me lose if it so happen, and never win thereby.  Still, if this should happen, afterward I trust that in his goodness he will look on me with pity as he did upon St. Peter, and make me stand up again and confess the truth of my conscience afresh and endure here the shame and harm of my own flesh.  And finally, Margaret, I know this well:  that without my fault he will not let me be lost.  I shall, therefore, with good hope commit myself wholly to him.  And if he permits me to perish for my faults, then I shall serve as praise for his justice.  But in good faith, Meg, I trust that his tender pity shall keep my poor soul safe and make me commend his mercy."

The other goodbye today was Rabbi Alan Cohen, who has finally retired from full time ministry at Shalom and will move to Florida in order to enjoy his retirement.  I met Alan before I worked for the diocese, collaborating together on a few interfaith events at Tallgrass Creek when I worked at a parish there.  When I came to work for the diocese we continued our interfaith collaboration with Scott Myers, pastor of Westport Presbyterian Church.  Alan has taught me a great deal about the Jewish tradition and my own tradition.  What is more, he has taught me how to be an authentic human being in the midst of great difficulties and stresses in the work of ministry.  While it is sad to see Alan leave Kansas City for Florida, all can agree that he indeed deserves a restful retirement, having served so many people over so many years. 

To both my colleagues who are still friends but work elsewhere, and to Alan as he retires, we offer the blessing God gave Moses to speak:  "Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:  This is how you shall bless the Israelites.  Say to them:  'The Lord bless you and keep you!  The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!  The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!  So they shall invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them."  (Numbers 6: 22-27)