Lord Tennyson's good timing

I opened my email inbox this afternoon and found this for my poem of the day:

A Farewell
Alfred, Lord Tennyson.

Flow down, cold rivulet, to the sea,
Thy tribute wave deliver:
No more by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

Flow, softly flow, by lawn and lea,
A rivulet then a river:
Nowhere by thee my steps shall be
For ever and for ever.

But here will sigh thine alder tree
And here thine aspen shiver;
And here by thee will hum the bee,
For ever and for ever.

A thousand suns will stream on thee,
A thousand moons will quiver;
But not by thee my steps shall be,
For ever and for ever.

It certainly struck a chord with me. I just walked back from High Street - I closed my bank account, bought some last minute gifts - and as I walked back, I suddenly thought, "This is the last time I'll walk down here."

I know that its possible, in fact probable, that I'll come back to visit London someday. But it won't be like walking down to High Street now. I learned several years ago that it isn't wise to try to re-live the past. So, I'm savouring all the "lasts".

Last day of work. Last Team Prayers. Last walk down the Thames. Last trip to Sainsburys. Last community lunch. Last Holy Communion.

Tomorrow will be my last morning prayers. I'm blessed that Ebby's leading it :)

The most comforting thought in all of this is that I'm small. God's work here is bigger than me. The Lee Abbey Community is bigger than me. People will still be walking up and down High Street after I go back, Reception will still run with efficiency and grace, students who live at 57-67 Lexham Gardens will still see Christ's hands and feet in action.

I'm beginning to understand what Paul was feeling when he wrote "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

I know that I have more fights to fight and races to run, but the Lee Abbey race is finished. I have given everything I have to this race, held nothing back. Poured out. If that was the end of the story, I'd be anxious, stressed, torn - I'd need to know how everything was going to turn out here, how the new community members would settle in, how the returning residents would feel, etc. But I have never been the one in charge, the one in control here. The One who is, is still here.

So I know I'll leave in peace, as Paul left all his children in the faith; to God be the glory forever and ever!