The Rt. Rev. Barry L. Beisner

Grace and peace be with you. By the time this issue of the Beauty Way finds you, we will have begun our Lenten journey. We are walking together through a Season that we have been invited to make holy by “self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.” This Lenten journey begins in Beauty: in the knowledge that we are created in the image of God, that we are beloved of God, that we are partners with God in God’s work, God’s mission in this world, as we follow Jesus in his way of Love. The spiritual disciplines into which we have been invited are meant to help restore and nurture us in Beauty and prepare us for the joy of Easter. As our new Mission Statement [The Navajo version is available in the article on the following page.] describes our journey together:

“In the name of Jesus Christ, the Holy One,
We set out to walk in harmony,
Seeking forgiveness and wholeness.
Through compassion and service,
Love binds us in relationship to all creation.
In the Beauty Way all is restored again.”

It is a great blessing to be helped to think of our mission as a way of life rooted in a deep
sense of identity, with a profound relationship to God and to all who find life in God. It is wonderful to be given a Mission Statement that is also a prayer.

I encourage us all to add to our Lenten spiritual practice the praying of this Mission Statement. I believe that practice will help us to lay a solid foundation for the structures now being created for this new Missionary Diocese of Navajoland. It will help us to craft our new Constitution and Canons faithfully. It will also help us discern God’s call in the election process for a new bishop. It begins in Beauty. Beauty shapes our path forward, following Jesus in his way of Love.

God bless you, and bring you in Beauty to the joy of Easter.

Yours in Christ,
+Barry