​From the Rector: Maui and Vestry Retreat

Dear friends,

It’s good to be home after a restorative week of vacation. Last week our family was on the beautiful island of Maui, as Julia attended a medical education conference run by the Mayo Clinic, and the rest of us tagged along.

The conference was at one of the hotels in Ka‘anapali, just north of the area affected by the devastating fires last August in Lahaina. While the hotel itself was untouched, reminders of that tragedy were all around. To get there, we had to drive along the bypass road around Lahaina; the town itself is still cordoned off and closed to the public. A few damaged buildings were visible from the highway. At the hotel we met a woman who regularly walked her three little dogs around the grounds, and we learned that she is one of the residents who lost her home in Lahaina and is still living there at the hotel.

I was reminded of visiting Santa Rosa six years ago, while interviewing here at Incarnation, and being driven through Fountaingrove and Coffey Park just a few months after the Tubbs Fire. That tragedy scarred our own region deeply, and its effects are still with us—as are the effects of more recent ones like the Kincade Fire, the Glass Fire, and others that have caused losses, evacuations, and fear. We have been fortunate to have a couple of quieter fire seasons since then. There has been much rebuilding and recovery. Yet many still live with ongoing losses as well as the more invisible effects of trauma, anxiety, and grief.

Healing is not linear. It takes time, community, love, and relationships. The people of west Maui are at an earlier point in that process. Like the people of Sonoma County, they are resilient, grieving, and turning to one another and to their neighbors elsewhere for support. I’m grateful that Incarnation took a special collection and contributed over $8,000 to rebuilding efforts there, just as others shared their resources with people here after our own fires. I’m reminded of St. Paul’s words: “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. . . Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.” (Romans 12:12–15)

Meanwhile, it was still special to be in that beautiful place, to walk and swim and experience the lush greenness and the blue water, and to see whales breaching off the shore. Even amidst the tragedy and brokenness of our world, the exuberance and artistry of God’s creation remains, and just as in the book of Genesis, God looks on it and calls it good.

This weekend our vestry and I will be at St. Dorothy’s Rest for our annual retreat. I wish the timing were different, as it means I’m away from Incarnation for a third Sunday in a row, but St. Dorothy’s availability and our Imagine Incarnation process made this the only scheduling that works this year. You can bet I’ll be eager to be back at the altar the following Sunday. Meanwhile, please pray for us as we orient new vestry members, choose those who will serve as wardens and chaplains this year, and reflect on our vestry hopes and priorities for 2024. As part of the retreat we’ll be reviewing the results of our Imagine Incarnation workshops so far with our Generational Plan Task Force and our architect team—please stay tuned for announcements of our next workshops this spring.

God bless you this week.

In Christ’s love,

Stephen