hilda and letting go

Hilda of Whitby, whom the English church celebrates today and the US church celebrated yesterday, was an abbess in the seventh century. To her door came a great clash between the Celtic and Roman churches - as with many great clashes it was over something which does not seem to deserve the attention it got - and that is how to calculate the date of Easter.

Under Hilda's oversight the churches convened the Council of Whitby which eventually decided to go with the Roman method - which Hilda, on a personal level, opposed but for the sake of unity in the Church she agreed with the decision of the Council and put her personal wishes aside.

Isaiah 11:3-4 says this:

³His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
⁴but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

Although this is interpreted by Christians as a foretaste of Jesus - it is worth thinking about for the Church. Delight in God comes first. Then the method of judgement which is used is beyond out human senses - and it seems by implication to leave behind our emotions and wills. Sound judgement for human beings is all tied up with the righteous rule of God - and based in prayer. It is not about our desire but about listening intently and constantly to the presence of God and asking very sincerely what is right in any given situation.

Hilda seems to have done this and it must have hurt her to let go of her beloved Celtic customs - which by the seventh century must have seemed much more "native" to the British Isles than the sweeping reach of the Roman Church.

It is fine to disagree, but in Christ we can find a unity which is beyond our disagreement and a way forward - the only problem is that we might be the one being called to let go of something which we find important - for the sake of the health of all.