Packing the Right Things for the Big Move

by Jay Morgan

(Our Senior Warden reflects on his recent transition and the ways it informs our understanding of our parish's own transition. -Fr. Scott)

I prayed with Fr. Scott last year about my growing family’s need for a larger home. I began by thanking God for all His provisions. Scott interrupted me: “Ask Him for a house.” I started again with another rambling prayer. He interrupted again: “Ask Him for a house.” So I asked plainly, putting my family’s need before Him. Several months later we moved into our new home. But, as the Lord provides He also teaches. Searching for a house is one thing—moving into it is another…

Just four people moving a mere five miles––yet it was difficult to decide what to take, what to replace, or what to throw out. Can we really part with our 20-year-old college textbooks? (The answer, apparently, was “no.”) The kids no longer play with these toys, do they? (“We still want them, Dad.”) Speaking of the kids, they were leaving the only home they had ever known. We have had to juggle packing with their school schedules and our two jobs—and our fifteen-year-old dog that is in frail health. To add to the stress, our appliances began dying: first the washing machine, then the oven, and finally the vacuum cleaner.

On moving day, our refrigerator’s icemaker line leaked all over the kitchen floor after the movers had taken the unit away. As a plumber worked at the old house, an electrician was updating the old wiring for the new washer and dryer. Both were unplanned expenses. Still, we are grateful for the electrician and plumber’s expertise and for the movers who had done the heavy lifting.

Even though we are thankful we are frustrated with the piles of boxes still unpacked—boxes with labels such as “pictures,” “clothes,” and “vases—very breakable.” That last label, I imagine, was for me. And while most of our furniture works well, some pieces do not. That dresser is too big, that table is too small, and did that floor lamp always lean like that?
After this move I now have a new appreciation for the Exodus. The Hebrews left the only home they had ever known, laden with plunder, and being chased and seemingly cornered. On the other side of the Red Sea, the Israelites had fashioned their Egyptian gold into the form of a calf, a representation of an Egyptian god. Yes, it is hard to let go of old places and familiar things.

In our Christian journey, letting go of the old is what we are called to do. In Colossians 3, the Apostle Paul admonishes us “to set our minds on the things that are above not on the things that are on earth” (v. 2). We are raised with Christ and hidden in Him, Who is seated at the right hand of God. In that sense we all have that new heavenly address; yet we bring the wrong things with us. Those things labeled “impurity, covetousness, slander, and anger,” (vv. 5-7) for example, do not fit with our new heavenly surroundings. Trying to bring them with us will only cause pain, frustration, and sorrow. The things that will fit in our new home are labeled “compassion, kindness, humility, patience, meekness, forgiveness.” Tying these all together, writes the apostle, is love (vv. 12-14).

Our parish is also on a kind of Exodus. Trinity Beaver with most of the diocese has left The Episcopal Church. Without either accusing TEC of holding us in bondage or making light of real slavery—we have property that we have taken with us in our departure and we are being pursued. Yet, whether we litigate, negotiate, or relocate, we need to be sure that we pack “the things that are above.” We will need to bind these heavenly things in love for ourselves (such as “patience”) as well as for our TEC counterparts (namely, “forgiveness”). While our Trinity home for the future is uncertain, we know that the Lord is leading us to something new. And He has already done the heavy lifting in our deliverance, so let’s pack appropriately.

By the way, I looked up in my calendar when I had prayed with Fr. Scott for a house. It was March 2, 2010. Diane and I signed the closing papers on February 25, 2011, 360 days later.