Carlye J. Hughes's blog

"An important thing for us to remember in this season of Epiphany," says Bishop Hughes, is "the many ways in which Jesus is revealed, including the ways that Jesus is revealed through us. Everywhere we go, in every interaction that we have with every person that we see, we have an opportunity to present Jesus to the rest of the world." (Time: 4:04.)

"It doesn't take much effort to see that if there's a thing that defines this time right now, it seems to be anger," says Bishop Hughes. "Who are we to be in the midst of that? How are we to be God's emissaries? How are we to be the witnesses of God's love in this time that we're in?" (Time: 4:48.)

What if we lowered our sense of importance and expectation about all the things that need to be done before Christmas, and instead of expecting things to go perfectly or to get the perfect thing or give the perfect thing, what if instead our focus was on the way we could be the gift this Christmas?

In this first week of Advent, Bishop Hughes asks us: "Consider how you can look for the hope. Look for the hope that is Jesus in your life or Jesus in the world. And not only look for the hope – how can you be the hope? In what ways can you offer the hope to someone else?"

Speaking from Clergy Conference, Bishop Hughes shares the question on which the clergy are focused and with which all the clergy and laity will be living for months and years to come: In a dramatically changed world, who is God calling us to be as church, now?

Bishop Hughes talks about how the concept of "boldness" has emerged as a guiding principle both as a diocesan community and as individual members of it.

Bishop Hughes notes that during this complicated time, it is not unusual for someone to say to her, “I don't know how to hold on to hope right now. I’m so frustrated, I am so angry, I have had enough.” Or, “I’m exhausted, I can't bring myself to care anymore.” And when she replies, “How about we pray?” there's a sense of hope that is reborn in wanting to pray.

"I think we get overwhelmed when we think we, on our own, must change the whole world or that we, on our own, cannot change the difficult issues that are facing us," says Bishop Hughes. "And there is rightness to that: on our own, we cannot do it. But if every single one of us does a little bit, if every single one of us does one thing only, then God, working through us, is able to make big changes in the world."

Bishop Hughes has stuck in her head the spiritual "Keep your lamps trimmed and burning," and finds it a comforting instruction for us to follow in these troubling, chaotic times.

Just as we had begun to enjoy the summer, the pandemic has taken an unexpected turn with infection rates suddenly spiking again. It could be easy right now to be discouraged or frustrated, says Bishop Hughes, but God has planted hope in us, and it's important for us to hold on to that hope as we persevere.