Weekly Letters from the Pastor

Grief and Joy...

Each June United Methodist from Louisiana gather at Annual Conference to conduct business and celebrate all that God is doing among us. We also pause to remember those who have died. The liturgy shared at Henning this past Sunday is the liturgy I wrote for our Annual Conference’s 2025 Service of Remembrance. As we approach the tenderness of holidays, I hope these words offer a space for all that you are carrying.

Grief, like joy, is an expression of our deepest humanity.

Grief, like joy, is something to embrace.

Grief, like joy, can overtake us, overwhelm us and leave us with

moments to remember over and over again.

Grief, like joy, is what we own when we have loved and we have been loved.

Grief, like joy, is something to be shared... tears and laughter,

laughter through tears, shared memories and everyday stories

everyday stories that become cherished memories.

But what if...

What if grief invites us into a deeper joy?

A deeper joy that warms the heart when our fresh grief brings a chill?

A deeper joy that will hum the tune until our grief can form the lyrics?

A deeper joy that whispers, "Well done, thy good and faithful servant," 

when our grief seems to have blurred our purpose?

A deeper joy that is strong enough to sit with our deepest grief, 

hold our tears and laughter, hold our cherished memories and our everyday stories...

A deeper joy known as all that has been, all that is, and all that will ever be. Amen