from Knut Hill, Senior Warden

It is Lent, and I am waiting. Haven’t I waited long enough? I’ve already got a taste of what I am waiting for. My fellow Saint Clarians, I am writing to you from inside our small Chapel. Enjoying the unique space in here, I am thinking about Saint Clare’s, how it started, where we have been together, where we are headed. We do not have a Rector, and I am eager to know more. I cannot do much about the fact that there is much waiting involved. So, I am just thinking about what the experience of waiting does to me. The other night, Kathy Daly, John Goodell and I walked out of church and we smelled Spring – a full, earthy odor was in the humid air. Were we waiting for this?

The smell reminded me of a sensation that I experienced in 1998, when I had just left Antarctica and was about to re-enter the atmosphere of familiar latitudes. I had been on the southern continent, a strange land of snows and ice for several months doing gopher jobs that gave me the opportunity to work there. Now, I was on a hollow C-160 military plane headed from McMurdo Station back to Christchurch, New Zealand. Before our approach to land, we were asked to sit in the simple benches made of webbing along the insides of the plane and to buckle our seat belts. I sat down and closed my eyes. The engine humming was unpleasant, and I was tired. Then suddenly, I smelled dirt! It was a strong odor, like someone had turned a fresh clump of soil and put it on a plate up to my face. It surprised me. I opened my eyes and stared blankly just thinking “What? Dirt?!” Then it dawned on me that we were close enough to New Zealand that I was smelling real earth. I had been away from it for long enough that I could literally sense it again. I smiled, and chuckled to myself in wonder.

During Lent, I have thought about waiting, being tempted, knowing I cannot endure the way Jesus did, but I can do better when faced with these challenges. 

We will identify an Interim Rector for Saint Clare’s when the time is right. Your Vestry and our Interview Team members cannot share as much information about the selection process as you might like. Please know and trust that we will share whatever information we can, as soon as it is right to share it. In the meantime, we are waiting, together. I wonder if you have had a chance to reflect on how you experience this anticipation. I encourage you to speak with each other and just talk about what it’s like.

I have heard from many Saint Clarians that they are experiencing a renewed sense of joy in worshipping together. I know that good things lie ahead for us. And I bet you will start to sense it even before we reach our destination.

It is a sprout well budded out
The work of our Lord’s hand

– from “The Mummer’s Dance” by Loreena Mc Kennitt

In God’s Peace, Knut