AdventWord 2019: 2. Visit
We visit because being in relationship is one of our deepest callings from God.
We visit because we desire human contact, companionship, friendship, and love.
We visit to share a moment in time, to share joys and sorrows
We visit to share the essence of who we are with another
Visits bring hope, a reminder that we are not forgotten or discarded, but that we are precious children of God and that God knew us before we were born.
We visit the elderly, those who once held us in the palm of their hands, and who now, in turn, need to be held and nurtured.
We visit the prisoner, to help humanize those dehumanized by the institution of incarceration.
We visit because God first visited and knew us in our mother’s womb and because God’s son visited humanity in its hour of need and reminded us that we are all beloved of God.
We visit because we need to experience the wonderful diversity of God’s creation, to seek the Christ in the other, to expand our experience of Christ in the world.
Visits can be sacramental acts, from the breaking of bread together to recognizing Christ in the other and being reminded of the Christ within ourselves.
We visit to remind ourselves that despite our own peculiarities, our own limitations, our own social, cultural narrowness, that we are all cut from the same cloth, that we are equal in God’s eyes.
We visit to walk alongside, to accompany, to journey with, to walk in another’s shoes.
We do not bring God to the encounter, for God is ever-present in all creation. As such, our visits will always be mutual if we enter into them with humility, with hearts open to experiencing God’s presence in the other.
We visit because it is good for our soul and for the souls of those who travel with us on this journey with Christ.
The Rev. David Copley was born in the U.K., trained as a pediatric nurse and worked in Liberia, West Africa during the civil war from 1991-94. He was a missionary in Bolivia from 1995-99 before being ordained in The Episcopal Church in 2003. He was appointed Mission Personnel Officer in 2006 and is currently Director of Global Partnerships and Mission Personnel on the Presiding Bishop’s staff. To find out more about global mission and The Episcopal Church, visit www.episcopalchurch.org/global-partnerships or email David at dcopley@episcopalchurch.org.