It's amazing how quickly nature responds to the change in the Seasons. Just two weeks ago it barely looked like Spring had begun. Now, most of the trees are fully leafed out! It can be that way in our lives also. You think things are slowly proceeding and then you turn around and so much has happened or seemed to have changed. Scripture often reminds us to “Keep watch” or to “Stay alert”.
It’s important to stay engaged and be in the moment. God is always with us and Jesus reminds us that his Spirit will never leave us. That makes each moment and every occasion sacred; full of the presence of God. Even if it might be a moment or an event of crisis, or loss, or pain. (Maybe especially in those times). God is with you in that moment – during the distressful event. That’s the promise of God’s steadfastness! God is faithful even when we are faithless, even when we are broken, or scared, or angry, or whatever.
With this truth we can see that God can redeem or overcome or reconcile all the moments in our lives. We need to be present in each moment through each day. Daily commit ourselves to Christ; turn over each decision, each action, each encounter. Find the Divine in all the occasions and opportunities that come your way each day. Being a disciple is a daily (if not moment by moment) choice. “Do I participate in God’s Kingdom in the moment, or with this decision”? What is the next right thing I need to do? Which choice is the one that most reflects Grace? These are some of the questions to focus on and keep in the back of your mind as you move through the day. I have a friend who always asks himself, "Who does this day belong to today? Jesus or me?" Each day he decides to live the day for Christ!
As we move through each day focusing on God’s presence we can discover more beauty in the world and the people around us. We can live into the moments of our lives and find that the events of our days are more gift than obstacle, more blessed than cursed, more vital than drab.
The church, and specifically our congregation is in an important season in our lives together! As we, as a nation and community, begin to come through the effects of Covid 19, we get to reestablish ourselves as a congregating fellowship. Not “Back to normal”. That time is forever behind us. Rather, as a congregation living into God’s New Day. Bringing with us the traditions, practices, and programs that help us grow and give meaning but blending with them new expressions of worship, new experiences of fellowship, exciting new programs that will build on our past and lead us into new ways to include, invite, reach out to, gather with, welcome, and love more people and more of our neighbors!!
Now we’re in the season after the day of Pentecost: the Birth of the Church! What new doors will God’s Spirit be opening for us? What new opportunities and blessings are in store – especially if we’re expectant and watching for the next new thing God is doing even in the next day, next moment of our lives?
Be God’s, Pastor Jim