First the Shrinking – then the Growing

I stood today in the community of Anglican Primates – we were in a circle around St Augustine’s Chair when Archbishop Justin was seated. It’s an extraordinary moment, I watched. I held my breath. I said my prayers for him,

As I watched, I saw what I have seen at other moments and experienced myself. As the weight of office descended, you could see the burden of it. People do shrink. I think about difficult meetings, hard decisions, lonely travel …. But they grow as well. In his sermon, Archbishop Justin talked about how to acknowledge the authority of God brings courage, I believe that. And I believe in the grace of ordination – that somehow we become what it is that we are called to be and need to be to fulfil whatever our calling may be.

And with the eye of my heart, I saw all of that, And I think he did as well