Books are great avenues for imagination. They foster environments that are untested and uncontrollable by outside events. Imagination may be influenced by these events, but it cannot be ultimately controlled. Imagination is also the flexing of the muscles of the mind. These muscles are simple in childhood, but they morph into complex structures of goals, hopes, dreams, and possibilities during adulthood. Imagination is the life-blood of creativity and possibility.

The action that perpetuates possibilities in a novel is the turning of a page. On the current page, your hero can be faced with certain demise and impending doom. Simply turning the page can deliver him out of the clutches of evil, and propel him towards the preferred happy ending. It could also further entangle the hero in the increasingly difficult grip of defeat. The perfect thing about this is the possibility of the next page - also known as imagination.

The page turned yesterday as our pastor announced his impending resignation.

Pastor Carter is an amazing man, a great leader, a profound inspiration, a grand example of Godly character and integrity, and I could go on and on. He is a great friend, and he has shown me the true meaning of the good shepherd. I have enjoyed being able to serve him, and the void that is left from the departure of that enjoyment will be hard to fill. Pastor Carter taught me about restoration and resilience. I have been able to learn how to be a better father, husband, and man from watching him. He was not always perfect in his presentation of the gospel, but he was perfect in his intent. He has always been willing to let his agenda and thought take a back seat to the will of God - no matter what was happening during that particular moment. In this situation, he is doing exactly that. He is following the will and call of God in his life. God is speaking to him, and he is listening. He leads by example, and I think that this is his truest great quality. His leadership will definitely be missed, and that is part of his legacy.

So, we as a church are experiencing a turning of the page event. I hate to put such an over-used phrase on the impending departure of a 15-year leader of our church, but it is the best one that fits to me. The page that is being turned brings to a close a brilliantly exhilarating series of chapters in the history of the life of our church. I have only been here for 5 of those years, but I have grown tremendously in that time. The future brings both sorrow for the absence of a great friend in the pulpit, and exciting expectation of what the next chapter is going to hold. It is different to be excited and sorrowful simultaneously.

Our church is not in a bad place, and the departure of our pastor is not due to misdeeds or abuse of position. This is not a bad thing, despite the feelings of sadness that we all feel. Pastor is showing us one last time from his leadership position that we are to follow the will of God, and allow God to be the end destination of our path. Where we go from here as a church is dependent upon the imagination of the person that is turning the page. Pastor Carter's life is in that same position. Our shared privilege is to have the one that wrote the book also be the one that is turning the page.