August 17, 2021
Dear friends,
As everyone is moving into the fall, and with the fluctuation of all of the advice from health experts, CDC, etc… I thought I would share a little bit of my perspective on how we should be moving forward together.
When I had my knee surgery in the fall of 2019, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Meredith didn’t either. She came with me to the appointment and as the doctor was describing the procedure before I got wheeled back into the operating room, I could see her eyes get bigger and bigger. My doctor told me before I agreed to this, “I’m not going to sugar-coat it, this is a tough recovery.” Turns out that was sugar-coating it. I was non-weight bearing for 9 weeks. Then, because of COVID, my physical therapy appointments were cut short, so I was on my own to strengthen my leg back up again.
One of the many things I noticed, is that my whole body changed. My knee was mal aligned before, and now with everything lined up, the adjustments I had made to everywhere else with my crooked knee for my entire life now had to adjust back. So, my goal in recovery was no longer to get back to what I was before. I never was going to go back to the way I was before because I wasn’t lined up. I now had this new way of moving and being in the world, and it was how it was going to be from here on out.
We have been through a tremendous event together with COVID, the 2020 election, the January 6th Insurrection, the resurgence of white supremacy, the disagreement within the United Methodist Church, the Racial Reconciliation movement, and a host of other things. As we move forward, we are never going to go back to what we once were. What is in front of us is living in the present and adjusting to the new people we now are. There will be moments of discomfort. There will be adjustment and confusion that the things we’ve always done aren’t working anymore. But, I believe, that if we are present in this together, and we are honest about what we feel and gracious with one another, we will live into this transformed life in a new way.
I continue to pray for you all daily. I hope you are doing the same for me, and Embry Hills UMC. There is an adventure in front of us, and I am so thankful to be on this adventure with you.
Peace,
Jordan