September 6, 2023

As you have no doubt heard by now, I have accepted a call to be the next Rector of Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Buffalo, WY. My last Sunday will be October 1, and the rest of October will be taken up with doctor appointments of various kinds for both Joelene and myself, last minute arrangements, and finally heading to Wyoming.

Joelene and I talked with a local realtor who did what realtors do and gave us tips on how to get the house “show ready.”

If you don't know what that means, it means that you need to make the house look like people live there without having any indication that people live there. In other words, all of the things that help make your house a home need to be eliminated so that your home becomes a house. This means that pictures need to come off walls, magnets need to come off the refrigerator, cat toys need to be picked up, mail needs to be hidden, the office needs to look like nobody actually works in it, and on and on.

Over the past several days we've made some progress at this. But let me tell you, it's much harder than it sounds; because it's more than just cleaning up. Much more. And for often as we have moved since becoming a priest, you would think that we would have a better handle on this. But we don't. It's almost like we just can't learn how to keep a place neat and tidy.

You may not be moving in the near future. You may actually be in what the Home Improvement channels call “your forever home.” So you may not think this applies to you. But at some point you are going to move – whether that's to a new house down the street, or another state, or a retirement facility (I hear Homewood has a lot of Episcopalians there!), or somewhere much more . . . permanent.

At some point we will all move.

During this latest adventure of ours, my new resolution is to Plan to Move. Not with the mentality of, “I won't be here forever,” but more with the mentality of, “If I had to move next month, would would go with me and what would go to recycle-reuse-trash?”

This is really just another take on hanging your clothes backwards and whatever hasn't been turned around after six months goes to Goodwill. Or maybe it's another take on Marie Kondo's method of organizing and simplifying. But seriously, I found stuff I haven't used or needed since seminary – that's been over 20 years ago! So there's no reason I need to be carting that stuff off to Wyoming.

So twice a year, maybe when you change your smoke alarm batteries, go through one room and ask yourself, “Do I need to move this to a new place?”

And as you think about that question, maybe think about how you might replace all that stuff in your life with the presence of Christ.

Amen.