The Unlikely Missionary

In Forward’s “Day by Day” Flannery O’Connor is attributed with saying that “when we know the truth it will make us odd.”

Well, my husband is going to be ordained on Saturday. And, that truth makes us odd.

But, I’m okay with that. As the sacramental moment approaches I have found myself more and more nervous. I don’t know why? This process has been bubbling along for years but now the day has arrived and I am afraid.

In our 14 years of married life we have shared sacramental moments. The first, our wedding. Most couples’ first lesson in that a wedding is a community event, that it is larger than ourselves. Also, the birth of a child and the death of a loved one, adds legs to the stool and kicks others out. But, their mark remains. The stool is always wobbley when someone leaves. They are always there in spirit.

The ordination is another sacrament. It is the larger church community coming together to affirm the gifts of this person.

Marriage has been under fire for years, but people still get married. The Episcopal Church is aching under its own weight, and yet people are still called. It says to me that there is still hope, hope in the best and for the best.