Plainsong Farm
I was ordained a priest in Christ’s one, holy, catholic and apostolic church on December 3rd, 2011. It’s no coincidence that this is also when I began my blog.
I thought about blogging for the last five years as I went through the Episcopal ordination process, but I never had the courage. I was scared that if I had a blog, I might publish something that would get in the way of my being ordained. A vocation to ordained ministry has been in me for twenty-plus years, more than half my life. I couldn’t imagine jeopardizing my ability to fulfill that call. So I published nothing.
Then, hands were laid on my head, and I was named priest. I put up this blog very quietly. I didn’t blog regularly, because of course I didn’t have any readers. And I never told anyone I was blogging, so it was more or less impossible for anyone to find me.
That changes today. Thanks to the presence of God among the thirty-eight people I spent the weekend with at an event titled, “Mortal, Can These Bones Live?” (Ezekiel 37), I’m going public with this blog.
I’m still scared that I will publish something that pushes the envelope a little too far for someone who reads this. I know that the internet is where civility came to die. But if I am to be priest of Christ I cannot be a handmaiden of fear. Too much is at stake in the life of the church and the world.
For those who read this, I ask your prayers. Leave a comment, and I promise you mine.
Worth sharing?
10 Responses to Going Public
Good to meet you! I’m Nurya…
Praying Day by Day
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How very very exciting to have your voice “in the wild” of the Web !
You’ve got us at your back. Welcome to this lovely voice.
Well, Nurya, my friend, I have enjoyed reading this, but you are nowhere near getting in trouble (the chalk is your closest approximation and it is not close). I would like to see you sidling up nearer to the edge sometime.
BTW, you received a lovely tribute from Kathleen Delp Higgins on Sunday. She said in her welcome that your guided meditation on her first visit to FSC persuaded her on the spot that she was in the right church. I will just leave that in all its richness for you to consider.
Walk toward the light!
You go! You have one of the gentlest, loveliest voices I’ve heard in a long time. Can’t wait to keep reading!!!
Hey, Roomie – to quote the albatross: “Courage, dear heart.” Voyage of the Dawn Treader p. 157.
I am proud to be able to call you my priest, Nurya. Now, go out and tell the world what you have inside of you to share and to teach….
[...] My most recent post outlined some statistical trends in the Episcopal Church. It was a pleasure to hear from quite a few people in the comments as well as by private email. Although it was published only a couple of days ago, it has garnered almost 300 page views. That’s among the top three on this blog, which went public at the end of February. [...]
I am so excited to find your blog. Thank you so much for being willing to pray, and observe, and reflect out loud for us and for the life of the world. Welcome to the amazing journey that priesthood can be. 17 years into this, and I’m still learning. (and thinking about resurrecting my own blog)
[...] for the next three months, still without telling a soul. Then, I went to a gathering of leaders and was emboldened to go public. At the end of February, I not only hit “publish” but also shared the post on Facebook. [...]