Minister’s Message
Dear Friends, my trip to Buffalo has been very refreshing—it’s been cool and sunny, with signs of spring everywhere. I’ve read Louise Erdrich’s “The Plague of Doves,” which I highly recommend. Erdrich’s novel focuses on the tangled strands of Native and Euro families intersecting on a patch of land both claim as their own and upon which their histories and their presents play out. I imagine that as I live longer in Mankato, getting to know better its history and its people, I will begin to see such tragic and luminous patterns in our part of the country. A life’s journey takes us to such inroads, places where our lived experiences, and the meaning and emotions of them, collide in memory and in the current.

The difference between a trip and a journey is stark: a trip has known starting and ending points, as well as a timeline. A journey has many starting points, and the destination remains part of the mysterious and unfolding present. A trip takes us from point A to point B. A journey begins when one becomes aware of a moment of meaning, a flash of insight that circles and loops as one reflects on unexpected connections and new significance. Our spiritual journeys in particular can be circuitous and meaning-laden, as we often “un-become” something we are not, and not simply “become” something that we are.

Take a moment to reflect on your own spiritual journey (perhaps in six words!). Share it with another person. Invite them to share with you. Perhaps when I make my brief return, on April 2-3 before I strike out on my next trip, you will share with me how your reflection and your sharing opened new journeys for you and between you.

My blessings and good wishes for you, as you remember, today and everyday, you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so.

Rev. Rita