We have a lot to celebrate in Spiritual Life this Holiday Season\u2014our offices are getting a new coat of paint! It has been a while since our building got a fresh coat (except to cover the fish and octopi that used to adorn the basement) and most of the furniture in the basement is left over from when Stingers used to be down there. All of the furniture is left over from something! We are very excited!<\/p>\n
The Spiritual Life Center houses the two Chaplains, our administrative staff (Christie Rapp and three student workers), Catholic Campus Ministries, Lynchburg Christian Fellowship Ministries (Baptist), Disciples on Campus, Canterbury Club (Episcopalian) and Hillel (Jewish). It also serves as the administrative base for Intervarsity, Campus Outreach and several other groups. We are on the corner of College Street and Brevard if you haven\u2019t found us yet.<\/p>\n
So we have a lot to celebrate, but like at so many times in life –\u00a0 we have to clean first. We love our \u201chomey\u201d atmosphere, but over the years we have accumulated quite a bit of stuff\u2014her stuff, my stuff, stuff that belonged to people who used to work here. Our library has some really outdated books\u2014and I am not just talking about Bibles and Tanakhs. We have many mismatched things and some downright junk. So we are cleaning and sorting and tossing and storing. I admit to changing my mind a few times and to prodding my colleagues to weigh in as well. We are trying to use a consensus model, but some stuff just has to go, and final decisions have to be made.<\/p>\n
Our space is a metaphor for what we value and treasure. If there is order it says something. If there is disarray (like my desk) it says something else. If we keep all the coffee mugs it means we want to have a capacity for large-scale hospitality using cups that are not disposable. If we throw out the skillet that has a flaking nonstick surface, it means we think it is probably unhealthy. If we make the space more welcoming to everyone, it means that we are committed to interfaith space in more than name only. We keep symbols of all of our traditions, but we try to achieve some balance. If we keep only that which we know we have a use for, it means we are capable of letting go. And if we recycle and repurpose, it mean we are sharing our clutter!<\/p>\n
This cleaning is appropriate for the Christian season of Advent\u2014the season of preparation before Christmas. Advent is the beginning of the church year and a time to make room for the Christ Child and new disciplines. If you are celebrating Advent, I encourage you to look around your space and do a quick inventory. What does your space in the office or at home say about you and your priorities? Is there room to welcome the Christ-child? Have you got too much going on, or can you find the time to prepare and get to the list of unfinished projects piling up?<\/p>\n
(Note to our Jewish community, while I do not expect you to adopt my Advent metaphor, I will recognize that our Hillel group is cleaning too. They have been celebrating Hanukkah, so I am trying to bill their clean up as making space to store the decorations and the dreidels for next year.)<\/p>\n
Remember we are celebrating! So look for news of our Open House after the work is complete!<\/p>\n
Blessings,
\nStephanie<\/p>\n
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We have a lot to celebrate in Spiritual Life this Holiday Season\u2014our offices are getting a new coat of paint! It has been a while since our building got a fresh coat (except to cover the fish and octopi that …<\/p>\n