Weekly Reflections – 1/7/25

St. Mary’s Reflection: The Rev. Kira Austin-Young – Christmastide in a Ghost Town

There is one business in Tuscarora – the post office. The nearest supermarket is back in Elko, an hour away. As it was the holidays, the population of the town was bustling, and we regularly had potluck dinners with the other seven people in town. Mostly we spent our days curled up by the wood stove, taking walks up into the hills, playing in the snow with the dog, and working on the house.

Tuscarora is quiet, and without the hustle and bustle of the city, I could finally hear myself think as I strolled the dirt roads above town. The freshly-fallen snow betrayed that only rabbits and other animals had passed that way, and not even the rumble of cars or airplanes pierced the clear air. I found myself overwhelmed by peace and gratitude. At sunrise, the words that came to mind were from a familiar hymn, “When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, ‘May Jesus Christ be praised!’” Taken by the ice on the sagebrush glinting in the sun and the majestic mountains in the background, I recalled the words from the Mary Oliver poem “Invitation”: “it is a serious thing/  just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.”

I don’t know what 2025 will bring either personally or in our larger communal and national life together, but I plan on carrying the peace and gratitude that I experienced over the holidays into this year as a touchstone. Whatever the chaos or tumult that surrounds us, I hope you can identify those places you can turn to, whether physically or just in your mind, for grounding. And I hope that St. Mary’s and our worship of God together is one of those places for you! Happy New Year!

The Rev. Kira Austin-Young