This is my first post for 2009. The Christmas break is ending soon and it seemed like it just came and went. Now the Christmas lantern needs to be taken down and other christmas decors need to be put away. I had barely enjoyed the lights and now it is back to the usual grind.
Let me share with you this Serenity Prayer.
May it usher peace in your hearts during those dark and discouraging moments. I read this again and again tonight, and the more I did, the more I realize its simplicity and its profundity.
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time:
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it:
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with you forever in the next.
AMEN
Reinhold Niebuhr
“To accept the things I cannot change…” [deep sigh] I may be a bit off topic, but I just wanted to ask: is it normal to grieve for a church name that will no longer be? I know it’s just a name, and I don’t have anything against a new one, in fact I even like the new name, perhaps even learn to love it in time. Is this grieving nonsense? I’d like to know if I’m alone in thinking like this.
No – it is not nonsense to grieve over a church name. Grieving indicates a sense of loss – a sense of things that would drastically be different from what used to be.
We grieve for several and specific reasons to us.
Even a name change could mean different things for a lot of people.
Memories are associated with certain names, people and other significant events…
Others are too fast in accepting things but I pray that they will also go slow in making others “find their way” in their grief.
It is different for a lot of people. Here in the Philippines, we mention our name and people say “Praise the Lord…” But in the US, people react differently…
You are not alone. I am grieving about it in my silent way.
There is a song that was used in the movie FireProof… and it was entitled “While I wait” or something like that… The composer said he wrote it when he asked “what should I do as I wait on the Lord?” and the answer came, WORSHIP.
I share in your grief. I am not even ready to change the .org part of the email address… but as we grieve, we are still called to worship Him in our grief.
God understands our grief. He does not consider them nonsense… because “even a bruised reed, He will not break…”
Take care.
Maraming salamat po. Kuya Orly told me during Ate Aileen’s despedida party that he too was grieving for this. It’s comforting to know that I am not alone in feeling this sense of loss. And thank you for mentioning how people in other areas react to our name, I never saw it like that before. Kuya O said sana nga meron daw sanang “last passage rites” or something for a name that he holds dear (and for longer than I have), para may closure daw siya, hehe. It does give me a good idea…
Maybe it will be a good idea to have some sort of an official name-transition. Many of the corporations do this. They gather on a special date and then launch a new product, a new logo, a refurbished product.. anything that is new…
Maybe as a corporate body we can even have something similar. Something that would usher in the new as we fold and keep the memories of the old. We even grieve when we have to change our email addresses. I even had to adjust when I had to let go of my wordpress.com blog and went to the domain name… these changes need to honor the things they are replacing. Maybe we can have small official change of the denominational name and logo. I have been saying “WCG” for the past 37 years – that is majority of my life – and I need to honor those long 37 years. The new name sounds foreign to me still – but I also take comfort in the fact that, our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, our teacher and comforter, the Holy Spirit – is the same, yesterday, today and tomorrow!
Kuya Rex, B, Ngayon ko lang po ‘to nabasa. I didn’t even know about the name change. Paki kwento naman po. What’s our new name na ba? Sa GLF nga lagi ko pa din sinasabing WCG-QC
Hi Malou – HQ had been studying this name change for quite some time now. I think you will be able to get more official background through wcg.org or gci.org I am not sure I will check in awhile…
You’ve given me a unique idea. Thanks for sharing this info with me.