11-02-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 2, 2024
The Pumpkin Patch is over! Take a deep breath and relax. Oh wait, the Dickens Market set up begins Sunday immediately after church. Then it’s only a few weeks until Thanksgiving Sunday, and then we are into the Season of Advent and Christmas. I learned a long time ago, as many of you have probably learned, that it’s never good to get into the habit of saying to yourself, “If I can only make it through the big event next week, then life will slow down.” It rarely happens that way, unless—as one of my professors used to say—you die. I know that’s a little morbid, but life continues to happen, the unexpected shows up on our doorsteps, and then there is the usual rhythm of life that is crowded with all kinds of seasonal happenings. I guess it is better than the alternative. As Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us, “For everything there is a season…” and the hope for each of us is to continue to claim faithfulness no matter what season of life we find ourselves. What I often see is that people’s faith fall into the same trap: “If I can only make it through the big event next week, then life will slow down and I can recommit myself to the work of my faith.” Faith should not be something we squeeze in when life has slowed just a little. It should be so tightly woven into our identity that it is present in the chaos and the calm, the highs and the lows, the joys and the sorrows, and everything in-between. It is what we strive for, even though most of us will remain a work in progress all our lives.

Assist me, O God, for you are the Alpha and Omega. Your goodness and grace stretch across every imaginable and even unimaginable aspect of life. May I intentionally claim your presence and your call to faithful living in every moment of life, no matter how frenzied things might feel. Amen.