10-22-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 22, 2023
The title of an article on CNN’s website caused me to pause and immediately open the article. The first line read, “A St. Louis youth football team had the rest of its season canceled after a player’s parent allegedly shot the coach multiple times for not putting his son as a starter for the team…” Now we do not yet know the whole story, but this sort of reinforces for me the need for Cypress Creek’s very clear mission of Putting Love First In All Things. We all have moments of frustration, even for most of us, there are times when we should have been “slow to speak,” as scripture suggests. But Putting Love First is, in part, about teaching people how to live the Love First Life. What tools do people need so that they will not shoot their child’s coach? It seems absurd that I just wrote that sentence, but an inability to pause and breathe and reflect is part of the challenge we face right now. Taking the time to read this Etching on a regular basis may not seem all that significant. And trust me, I know that some of these are probably not worth your precious time. Yet there is something important about the practice of pausing and breathing and reflecting on something like this, and doing so on a daily basis. We are being shaped by a practice that, in some small way, will help us in one of those moments when our gut is about ready to react in an unhealthy way to pause and breathe and reflect long enough so that we are able to respond in a way that is healthy and respectful.

​Wherever you can teach me, Gracious God, I want to be a student. Whatever you can use to bring more peace and wisdom to my decision-making, I pray for you to do so. Amen.