The Day of New Things

Hello all - 


Today was a great day! I worked a "1" shift - made cookies for coffee break, as well as set up lunch, and worked with some fantastic colleagues in the kitchen! After lunch, I took advantage of the cool, but still great, weather and sat out on our front porch, snapped some photos, and waited until dinner. 


I had dinner with the Bookstore Coordinator and her family - great, great people - and then the Village gathered for Vespers. 


Vespers was interesting tonight. Holden is undergoing a mine mediation project as of this year to clean up the valley. Because of mine involvements with the Village, some of the buildings in the valley (an old garage, Compost Lane, and an old shed) are going to be torn down. Because of this, Vespers tonight focused on remembering those old buildings, some older staff shared memories, and we sang "In the Lord I'll be Ever Thankful". I was one of the staff to read Bible verses; I shared Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 - "For everything there is a season...". For what the Village is going through this next year, there couldn't be a more appropriate theme. 


After Vespers, the weekly Wednesday staff meeting - my very first one! New staff were introduced, Village happenings and announcements were made, and departing staff were circled around, hands laid upon, and blessed. As we gathered around those departing, standing in the valley surrounded by the majestic mountain peaks, we prayed the "Holden Prayer":


"O God, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."


After that, the meeting was over. I began to walk back down the valley, blue mountains on each side of me, a long gravel road ahead which leads back to the Village. I stood, breathed the air, looked at the sloping sharp ridges of Martin's Ridge and Buckskin Mountains, and I've never felt more in tune with God's creation; his people. I've never felt more alive! 


From the Village, 


Dean