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IN THE CENTER OF THE WHIRLWIND
Sometimes life feels like a whirlwind. Sometimes we get picked up and tossed around and everything seems out of control. At other times, we are in the center, with so many things swirling around us it's hard to focus on one at a time. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind for me - at times I've been caught up in the spin, but most of the time I feel like I'm in a safe, calm center but everything is moving so fast around me that I can't quite take it all in. It's kind of like riding a carousel at an amusement park. Once it gets up to speed, the lights and buildings and other rides all turns into streaks of light swirling around and around your head keeping your eyes from focusing on any one object. The closer you stand to the center the calmer and quieter you feel and the faster everything else seems to move. At the beginning of October, MORE magazine ran an article on "Overachieving Retirees" by Lisa Belkin in the October issue. It featured three women who are non-traditionalists when in comes to planning their retirement. Right in the middle, it says "Then there's Nancy Kirk. Although she and my mother (Lisa talked about her Mom in the first part of the article) have never met, they share a philosophy of regularly changing careers, and Kirk, 61. of Omaha, Nebraska, has been through several - journalism, photography, arts management and the antique quilt business. Most recently she started publishing books. (Her first is about how to write thank-you notes. You should write one a day, she says; if you can't think of one person to thank every day, "you aren't paying attention.") "When Kirk turned 60 in the summer of 2007, she felt the need to give some structure to what has, until now, been a serendipitous meandering from one incarnation to another….So with the help of an executive coach 'I made a 44-year plan.' " The story continues from there. You can pick up the issue at your local bookstore - it has a photo of Michelle Obama on the cover. So that was the start of the whirlwind of the last two weeks. In that 44 year plan I made, I wrote that I was feeling a call to ministry of some kind over the next 10 years or so. I didn't know exactly what or whether it would involve a lay ministry or ordination. I did know that I am most fascinated by the changing role of religion in a pluralistic society. Then last winter I heard about the Tri-Faith Initiative, a remarkable project here in Omaha. Temple Israel, the American Institute of Islamic Studies and Culture and the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, and planning to go together to buy a piece of land where they plan to build a church, a temple and a mosque plus a shared interfaith facility. I started doing some volunteer work with the project over the summer, and two weeks ago tonight I became the Executive Director for the organization. It is a half-time position right now, which is all I can give it. I will continue to keep the Kirk Collection website up and running at www.kirkcollection.com, and have the Thank You Notes book coming out - yes, it's finally at the printer. I'm also finishing up a collection of Monday Minutes in book form. I'm planning to continue the Monday Minutes, but there may be the occasional week when I miss. If the idea of the Tri-Faith Initiative excites you as it does me, go over to www.trifaith.org. Right now it's just a blog page while I get the rest of the web site up and running. Soon there will be a mailing list sign up if you would like keep up with the progress here in Omaha. So in the last two weeks I've met with the Board - my first official act was to the record the vote hiring me, for the minutes. Set up new phone, mailing address, hard drive, filing system, stationary, website, blog and the other administrative details. I've been to a Stewardship Academy on capital campaigns, started a mailing list, and been to my first Sabbath prayer service at the Temple to hear an Episcopal priest give a talk on the Jewish roots of the Christian sacraments. And that was on top of my regular activities - web work, writing, cardiac rehab, and doing a marketing plan for a whole new line of bedding we'll be adding to the website. I'm not sure if the whirlwind is slowing down, or if I'm just beginning to get up to speed. I feel like I can see more of the picture a little more clearly. Having separate phone lines for the Tri-Faith and the Kirk Collection gives it all a certain clarity - at least on the top of my desk. I invite your kind thoughts as I undertake this incredibly exciting time in my life. For those inclined to prayer, please pray that we find the land we need to create a piece of ground where our three faith groups -- which all trace our heritage to Abraham and which all worship the same God -- can live and work together in peace. Amen. This is Nancy Kirk with your Monday Minute. |
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