Hello From Fr. Greg Fry

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are  spiritual beings having a human experience.”  Teilhard de Chardin

              Bringing closure to my ministry and leadership at St. Edmund’s, getting our home ready to “go on the market,” taking our dog Harry on rides and long walks while the house is being shown, open houses, combing the web looking at the rental market near St. Stephen’s with anticipation of finding our new home, getting moving company estimates, the anticipation of beginning a new ministry with a new community of followers of The Way, Zoë preparing to go to Tuscany with the Sarasota Youth Opera…without her parents. As a new good friend of mine has said to me: “Hey, it's still Monday, and everything is going well, right?????”

     Actually it is going well. Yes, transitions can be a little stressful and even a little scary at times, but it’s in situations like this that we come to appreciate that we are what Christ’s earliest followers referred to themselves as: followers of the Way.  I am learning to appreciate the adventure of the Way, and beginning to see how  situations like these are actually opportunities: opportunities to be with family and friends, to discover those deeply peaceful, shalom moments that seize you when you’re least expecting it. These are opportunities that allow God to break into our daily lives when we feel consumed by the tasks at hand.

     Maybe it’s when we are focused on mundane tasks and our daily grind that God can break into --or through-- our consciousness, and catch us off-guard. These moments can take our breath away when we experience them. And when they happen, they call us back to the reality that we are indeed followers of the way…. and all this is just a part of that great journey.

     I often meditate on Teilhard de Chardin’s quote. It’s particularly good whenever you find yourself on an exciting/ hectic/ stressful part of your journey. At the really busy times, we can really appreciate that we are “spiritual beings enjoying and celebrating this human experience.”  That’s when I laugh, and remember that we are called to a Way that will never be boring.

 May you walk in Beauty always.

 Shalom, Greg +