Savor

This word has come up often recently: in an ordination, in a staff meeting. We need to savor the blessings of these days.

The photograph below is the last of my birth family with my mother. I call it my savor photo because I have looked at it through the years and thought to myself, “We had no idea how fortunate we were that everyone was alive.” Of course new people are alive since then and life is sweet, and yet I wish I’d savored that moment more. (Note: I am the weary-looking woman in the flowered dress after just giving birth to the newborn who just turned 33 last week.) My dad would also be gone two years later. We had no idea.

A pastor I deeply respect suggested today that everybody is Soul Tired these days. There are deep levels of anxiety and disorientation in many of our institutions, including The Church, that an occasional massage or weekend away will not fix.

And yet there is much to savor: the presence of people we love, the smell of salt water or mountain air, the opportunities cracking open because of COVID, so many interesting people doing cool things in the world. I savor the perfect empanada from my local coffee shop. I savor the good-humored jesting among church leaders.

This is a time to let go of petty things and savor the deeply comforting things, and pray we know the difference.