Helping Hands:
A group of church members is interested in doing a "Mask Drive" to share the masks they have been sewing with the community. If you are interested in assisting or helping sew masks (or know of someone who needs a mask), please contact the church.
The gardens and grounds around the church are longing for a little TLC. If you are interested in doing some weeding or planting, send a note. We can form a safe and healthy work group.
Reminder that all meetings, gatherings and events are still suspended until further notice.
From Pastor Paul: Toward Sunday
…so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him…though indeed he is not far from each one of us. ~ Acts 17:27
It's gotta be my favorite part of being a minister…I mean, preaching is pretty cool, and I love the songs, and the friendships, and let's not forget the sweet treats on Sunday and good food on Wednesday (can't wait for those again!), but my favorite part is hearing the stories people share of the moments they feel God's presence in their lives…you know, a feeling of grace that something happened just the way it did and prompting a hearty "thank you" to God. Or when people share about thoughts or questions or work toward healing and then suddenly – an epiphany! I love it when people tell me about some grace-laden clarity that has formed in their lives, or a connection with a loved one that has passed away – ah, so many! I love them all! I thank God that people share them! I celebrate them, care for them, and do what I can to nurture them like flowers in a garden. Each precious, each holy.
So, it feels right to share with you about one in my own life. See, I shared a bit in last Sunday's sermon about how an area of brokenness and pain in my life that I had been carrying for years was erased in a sudden instant by the right conversation with the right person at the right moment. I have to tell you, friends, feeling that transformation from pain to healing, from grief to solace, from anger to love, is what I hope and pray heaven is all about!
Thing is, it is already here. "He is not far from each of us," Paul spoke to the Athenians, and by golly he's right! See, I knew my brokenness was unhealthy, and the pain inside of me was also affecting other people. I knew because every day I would keep up my faith practices, and as I turned to God my prayers would remind me that I am, indeed, in need of healing. So I kept moving toward the things that I knew were life-giving to me. I would walk in the woods, spending time with the flora and fauna I love so much. I would play music, because I knew that some day I would "feel" it again. I would gather with life-giving, affirmative people (a tip o' the hat to y'all) and share moments of laughter and creativity and good food. I would write, even if what came out wasn't all I wanted it to be, because I knew it had always been a positive thing in my life. Friends, this is not to pat myself on the back because I "kept working at it" – those things were just self-care. What I really want you to know is that each and every one of those things I was turning to were, in their very presence, gifts from God…and it was God's timeline that I was living in, not my own – no matter my tendency to seek instant gratification. Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. At any moment, God truly is not far from us.
And here's the other cool part of the story: all those things I would turn to – nature and music and friendship and words and on and on – those things are still there, and I gotta tell you, when I turn to them now, they fill me with a delight that I haven't felt in a good long time. Thanks, God! Even if I couldn't always feel it the way I wanted to, I knew you were always there. Good plan, that one.
Keep in touch, Friends
Pastor Paul