“The Ship of Theseus” is a famous philosophical thought experiment rooted in Greek mythology and the story of the hero Theseus and his travels. As the story goes, the Athenians kept his ship in harbor long after he died, taking it out to sea each year to commemorate his voyages. Yet, over time, parts of the ship needed to be repaired and replaced. Writing about these things generations later, the historian Plutarch raised the question of when this ceases to be the same ship?
There are other examples. Apparently a museum here in the United States claims to have an axe owned by George Washington, but the handle has been replaced three times and the head twice.
Perhaps closer to home, I think of sourdough starter that one friend hands on to another, and then to another, each one adding new ingredients and keeping it in a new kitchen.
Or that friend from college who was the wildest in a pretty wild bunch and who you haven’t seen in twenty years, but now when you do, has less hair and a few more pounds around the waist, but even more, carries a peace about him that makes you wonder if you’re looking at the same person.
“If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation,” Paul says.
I’ve been thinking about these questions of continuity through change over the past weeks at Northminster as we have:
–welcomed new members to the waters of baptism,
–dedicated new babies to the church’s care,
–called a new associate pastor,
–and hired a new facilities manager (see the newsletter for more information on Mr. Leonard Wilson),
as we have also sent beloved saints of our church home to God’s nearer presence, and prepare to say goodbye to Lesley Ratcliff after 15 years of extraordinary service as our Associate Pastor for Children and Adults.
We’ve also celebrated communion with a sourdough bread made by Chico Taylor from a recipe handed down by Mable Butler, a Northminster saint of old (sadly the original starter was lost years ago!). We will continue to use this recipe and are looking for others to share in the baking–please let me know if you would like to help.
It is a remarkable thing to consider the many changes that take place within a congregation over just about any period of time–such is the pace of common life. And it is even more remarkable to consider what holds us together in the midst of it; all that is preserved and passed down through the generations of a congregation, let alone the broader Church.
Indeed, these changes can, at times, even seem to make “the ties that bind” us through space and time all the stronger.
We give thanks for the fullness of life we share in this place. All the many individuals, lives, and gifts that make it richer and deeper in ways that persist through the natural rhythms of change.
And we give thanks, as ever, for the God “in whom we live, and move, and have our being,” whose love never does.
SHD
