I Never wanted to say goodbye

by Julie Martin Hutson

I never wanted to pray goodbye

To step away from that place where I had loved long

     And been loved,

To depart from that place where I had been known long

     And come to know 

I never wanted to pray goodbye

To dreams and doubts

To ease and struggle

To fullness and absence

I never wanted to pray goodbye

For the work was not finished

And the act was incomplete

And the play had not ended

I never wanted to pray goodbye

To the plans I had drawn

To the visions I had witnessed

To the goals I had set

I never wanted to pray goodbye.

But you, O Holy One

Called. 

You, the One whose name I both curse and cherish

Have some vision far beyond my own understanding.

I must trust it is for my good

I must hold fast to story and myth

I must step out and move on and 

In the end

I must pray goodbye. 

       Julie Martin Hutson

       Lent 2021