Final Sunday at San Jose

My last Sunday at San Jose Episcopal will be on April 26th. The past five months have really flown by!

Yesterday afternoon I was out for a walk with my three sons. Brennan and Aidan are 9 and 7, respectively, so they rode their scooters and then went hunting for tadpoles and lizards in and around a retention pond by our house. I had three month old Joshua in the jogging stroller (not that I will ever jog with it...) and I mused about the parallels between Joshua's first three months on earth and my five months at San Jose.

Each of us started our little journey in a position of extreme comfort and peace. Joshua began his journey in the womb; there is no warmer, safer, more completely peaceful place than that. I started my recent journey at St. Andrew's; which has been my parish home for eight years. In that time, SAE has become my safe place. St. Andrew's taught me to be a man and follow Christ. It was there that I learned how to be a mature adult, to tithe, to pray, to worship, to raise healthy children and to be a real friend.

Then... trauma. For Joshua, it was birth on January 15th. A tough way to come into the world, but at least you get in! For me it was starting my internship at San Jose on the first Sunday of Advent, 2008. For each of us the change was a shock:

"who are all these strange people?"
"why am I here?"
"when do I get to return to the comfort of my safe place?"

But for each of us the transition turned out to be no so bad after all. Joshua quickly found himself in the loving arms of his wonderful mother and family. He was safe, warm, and fed. I quickly found myself surrounded by caring and thoughtful Christians. I was safe, warm and fed.

After the initial shock wore off, both of us started to enjoy our time in our new surrounding immensely. Joshua came home from the hospital after a few days and then got to meet grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and the dog. Eventually he visited St. Andrew's and was introduced to his larger family. After the first few weeks at San Jose I started to really enjoy every minute of it. I had been afraid that there would be no other place on earth like St. Andrew's. This was true and yet it was not... San Jose and St. Andrew's are loving, thriving, giving Christian communities; each with it's own voice, flavor, and palette of colors and attitudes towards life and the world. The important stuff is the same: devoted to God, followers of Christ, prayerful and giving, love for one another, care for those who hurt, openmindedness, and fondness for the Episcopal way. Some important things are quite different, mostly it is the people themselves and their stories of life with Christ and each other. Other things that are unique, and joyously so, are the music, worship style, architecture, and traditions. This is fantastic because it gives so much spice and variety to each community. After a few weeks at SJE I was ready to savor each moment I spent there.

During our walk Joshua fell quickly asleep. The warm sun was shining down on us from a bright sky full of fluffy clouds. The light from the sun had that filtered, yellow glow that you only get on a spring afternoon. The baby looked so peaceful and content lying there in the stroller, dozing quietly in the warm sun. He knew he was safe and loved; that there was nothing to worry about. I know how he feels.

Jon