Letting Go Lent Meditation by Kathleen Mullins

In January of 2023, I officially became a member of St. Thomas and a new Episcopalian. I would be lying if I said when I joined I had all things Episcopal figured out. Today, I am still learning. On this journey of learning about my new church home and the Episcopal church, I decided to let go of the bulletin.

During worship, I found myself clinging to it like a security blanket so I made a conscious decision to put it down and look to the altar, look and listen to who was offering prayers and look and listen to the readers as they read from scripture. I found this simple practice helped me to feel engaged and connected to my new church and to my new religion. Don’t get me wrong, I do still use the bulletin, but when it comes to the prayers and scripture readings or listening to our clergy speak from the pulpit or read from the Book of Common Prayer, I am face up and engaged with no paper in my lap or in my hands.

I love the order of worship in the Episcopal church, and every Sunday I am in attendance it becomes more familiar to me. The liturgy, the prayers, the scripture readings, the Nicene Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and words from the Book of Common Prayer are all comforting. As I grow in my new found religion and my church experience, I feel more and more at home by letting go of the paper bulletin, and instead, listening to the beautiful words I am hearing and allowing them to feed my soul and fill my heart. As I leave St. Thomas each Sunday, I feel more and more connected. It is like a big hug that I am letting wrap itself around me as I learn that letting go of the familiar can really be a beautiful thing.