by Rev. Eric Folkerth

Last Sunday’s “time change” has me thinking about darkness and paths. I actually tend to favor the “Fall Back” change because at least for that night it feels like I catch up on a little sleep. But one immediate result of “Fall Back” is that it’s also suddenly very dark very early. And so, just this week, Dennise sent me a text from her office, about 6 pm, about how it felt like midnight outside.

And so, this time of year when the seasonal change naturally pulls our focus toward overcoming darkness, it seems the perfect time for our Stewardship Theme:

“Light for the Path.”

There is so much darkness in our world today; so much fear and anxiety. But our calling is to hear the Gospel’s reminder of how Jesus is the “true light that illumines everyone.”

One thing about walking in darkness on a path is this: You don’t have to see the whole path to walk forward in faith and trust.

We might *want* more light —we might wish to be able to see farther than we can at night— but with the right amount of faith and a certain level of trust in the path, so long as we can see in front of us and behind, we can learn how to walk in the dark.

This reminds me of a prayer that Ken Kelley read during Martha Griffin’s memorial service last week. It’s a prayer I’d heard before and the family found it among Martha’s possessions, so it meant something to her, too.

It’s from the always spiritually-wise, Thomas Merton:

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore, I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

What incredible wisdom this is. Again, it takes a certain level of trust in the path in order to live this way.

All through these past few troubling years God has placed blessing after blessing before us at Kessler Park UMC. There have been many plans we have begun where we have not been entirely certain just HOW things would work out… and yet they DO work out.

And as we look back even farther behind us, generations of Kessler Park “saints” who came before lived much the same way. Folks like Martha Griffin didn’t always know where KPUMC’s path would lead, and yet they too lived in trust.

They were lights on our path, just as we are called to be lights on the path for future generations.

As you will read in a separate “Light for the Path” congregational email this week, next year will bring definite changes to our typical income expectations at KPUMC. The primary issue, of course, is the departure of The Kessler School.

But, as you hopefully also know, we have been working now for some years to develop and expand our own Kessler Park Day School (KPDS). Its opening this fall was a true joy, as was the recent dedication of the Nell Lind Playground.

Your church leadership believes we have a credible plan for navigating through the uncertain fiscal issues of 2024. But we will need continued trust in the growth of KPDS, as well as your continued and growing generosity.

Here is the truth of the past few years: almost all of your staff and lay leadership have spent sleepless nights the past few years worried about our church’s financial future.

But at every turn, with every step, some new light on the path has emerged. And so we now have a plan, we are now working the plan, and we will trust in the continued emergence of the light on our path. And we hope you will join us all as we continue to seek to light the path for our mission field in North Oak Cliff.

Thank you for prayerfully considering a 2024 gift to Kessler Park UMC.

Grace and Peace,
Eric Folkerth

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