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A Final Message from Peggy
Dear Beloved of God,
Sunday’s reception was lovely. I appreciate all who came, and the expressions of gratitude from each of you. I spent time Sunday afternoon opening cards, reading messages, and discovering generous gifts. I felt the love!
We have had quite a journey together. I look back on our shared 23 months with gratitude and humility. I trust that the Spirit has been working with us and through us and will continue to do so as we take different paths.
I leave you this prayer by the late Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw, Michigan:
It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view.
The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts; it is even beyond our vision.
We accomplish in our lifetime only a fraction
of the magnificent enterprise that is God’s work.
Nothing we do is complete,
which is another way of saying that the kingdom always lies beyond us.
No statement says all that could be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness.
No program accomplishes the church’s mission.
No set of goals and objectives includes everything.
This is what we are about.
We plant the seeds that one day will grow.
We water the seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.
We lay foundations that will need further development.
We provide yeast that produces effects far beyond our capabilities.
We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something and to do it well.
It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way,
an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest.
We may never see the end results,
but that is the difference between the master builder and the worker.
We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs.
We are prophets of a future not our own.
Peace be with you,
Peggy
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