11-15-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 15, 2023
Tomorrow night is the Spring Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. It is always a rich experience, with a wonderfully diverse group of speakers who offer insight from their unique faith expressions. Each year, I learn something I did not previously know while also having my own faith experience challenged and lifted by something someone said. And the service itself, and specifically what it communicates in this time of polarization, mistrust, and misinformation, is a beacon of hope. We need more events like this one. It’s too bad that some Christians feel threatened by these kinds of experiences. It makes sense when someone is taught that a very specific way of understanding Christianity is the only way. Suddenly, everyone else is wrong and in need of conversion. When Jesus met the woman at the well (John 4), he suggested that things were changing. He didn’t invite her to be a Jew or a Christian. He didn’t even say, "Come and follow me.” Instead, he spoke of a day when everyone would worship in spirit and truth. Jesus is inviting the woman in the story, and I think all of us are on a journey, as spirit and truth are not things any of us will ever be able to confidently say, “I’ve got it! Done!!”  Instead, through sharing and listening and openness, we begin to take specific steps toward discovering a deeper understanding of spirit and truth.

Again, the service is tomorrow night (Thursday) at 6:30pm. Our friends at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints will be hosting (16535 Kleinwood Drive in Spring). I hope to see you there.

Holy God, help me to set aside any fear I have of the other. I do not wish to be defined or driven by what I do not understand. As I feel strong in your love, I am able to listen and engage others whose approach to faith is very different than my own. Love seems to always find a way when I trust it as a gift from you. Amen.