September 4, 2026

We have gotten really good at leaving.

We leave the group chat.

We unfollow.

We unsubscribe.

We mute.

We block.

We move on.

And sometimes, leaving is exactly what we need to do.

Sometimes leaving is liberation.

Sometimes there is an Egypt we absolutely need to walk out of.

But what about the times when leaving isn't liberation?

What about the times when staying is actually the harder thing?

Staying in the conversation.

Staying curious when we would rather be certain.

Staying long enough to listen.

Staying long enough to say, “I was wrong.”

Staying long enough to discover that the person on the other side of our disagreement is more complicated than the version of them we have created in our heads.

This Sunday, we’re putting two very curious, different, and peculiar biblical texts beside one another: Exodus 12:1-14 and Matthew 18:15-20.

One is about a people preparing to leave.

The other is about a people learning how to remain together.

And somewhere between the two is a question I think all of us have to wrestle with:

How do we know when it is time to go—and when love is asking us to stay?

I’m still thinking about that one.

See you Sunday for my sermon entitled, ‘The Work of Staying’.

Blessings,

Maria