Seen, Known, Sent

In the latest issue of Portland, the University of Portland magazine, writer and friend of Discerning Deacons Cameron Bellm reflects on an icon recently installed in the university’s Mehling Hall chapel. Depicting several women of the New Testament, the icon gives special attention to the Samaritan woman at the well. While many Christian traditions leave her unnamed, the Orthodox tradition remembers her as Photini, “the enlightened one.”

I’ve long loved the story of the woman at the well, and I came to know Photini more deeply during a silent retreat several summers ago at the Saint Raphaela Center outside Philadelphia. Upon a table at the Center sat a faceless, abstract sculpture of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman. I was struck anew by the intimacy of this Gospel story: Christ drawing near to someone who expected neither recognition nor welcome. During that retreat, my spiritual director and I returned often to the stories of multifaceted women to whom God draws close to reveal God’s glory. Their witness became a mirror for my own prayer. Where in my life did I still hesitate to believe that God truly saw me? What hidden places was Christ inviting into the light?

I’ve spent much of this summer listening to members of the Discerning Deacons community, and I’ve heard echoes of Photini again and again. In conversations with folks from across the country, I’ve heard stories of vocations affirmed, grief softened, friendships forged, hope renewed, and unexpected courage discovered. Again and again, people have shared moments when God drew close and revealed something they had not yet seen in themselves or in the Church.

Those conversations have reminded me that revelation is seldom a solitary experience. God meets us in relationship, calls us by name, and then sends us back into community as witnesses. Photini leaves her water jar behind and returns to her neighbors with good news. She becomes one of the first evangelists in John’s Gospel having encountered the One who knows her completely and loves her still.

When people describe the work of Discerning Deacons, I hear certain words repeated with remarkable consistency: joyful, thoughtful, faithful. And these qualities are sustained by theological rigor, pastoral wisdom, listening, and the conviction that the Holy Spirit continues to reveal new possibilities for the Church through the gifts of God’s people. Our joy is not naïve optimism but hope practiced together, even amid uncertainty. And these values become ever new each time they are shared, each time they illuminate another person’s call to participate in God’s renewing work.

That spirit of shared witness lies at the heart of our celebration of the Feast of St. Phoebe. As we prepare for St. Phoebe Fall, I’m grateful for the countless women and men whose faithful accompaniment has made this movement possible. Who has helped you recognize God’s presence in your own life? Whose witness has strengthened your own? And how might your witness become a source of hope for someone else?

I hope you’ll join us as we celebrate St. Phoebe’s feast, give thanks for those who have gone before us, and continue walking together toward the Church God is always renewing.