Thursday, February 28, 2013

We had our Free Community Dinner last night.  We turned on one of the ovens and it quickly became clear there was something on the bottom of the oven as the room filled with smoke.  So today I was at church on my knees with my head in the oven singing "Because He Lives."  Something humbling in cleaning up that mess and singing that hymn.  It's a humorous sight, but it's also true.  I was on my knees cleaning up a mess...knowing in the humility of the moment that I can get through today and tomorrow because I walk with my Lord.

I spend the day after those community dinners reflecting on the lives that came to the meal.  The turmoil that those lives are in or will face soon.  Today it's the children who caught my heart.  Children in poverty situations are revealing of so many wrongs in our world.

I think about the adults who came to dinner.  Some who are lost to society and ignored...many who are barely making it through....some who are just looking for a friend and other people to share a meal with....some who just like coming and enjoy it....All with a need.

I went to a Lenten Lunch yesterday where soup and bread was served and good Lenten message was preached.  We were all there searching....all from different places in life and different church traditions.  We were deliberate about being on a journey to the cross.  We will gather again next week...we're all in need.

I went yesterday and visited a woman in a nursing home with questions that she will be facing in the next week.  All around her were people who are forgotten...left behind in chairs and beds glimpsing the rest of the world through little TVs, cards and sometimes visitors.  The alarms went off and doors closed and the rooms became smaller....the alarm finally went still, the doors opened and no explanation given for the sudden disruption.  The helplessness of living in this was overwhelming.

There are days that bring us to our knees to be humbled by the reality of life.  I think again how being on my knees cleaning out a dirty oven floor and singing "Because He Lives" isn't quite as funny any more.  I need to be humbled and I need to know it is because Jesus lives I can do anything. 

May I always be humble enough to see the people along the journey to the cross and see them as children of God.   Don't let me not see them...don't let me blind myself, don't let my heart harden to them....God, use me....make me a blessing not a burden....use me.  Amen

 
Because He lives....I can face tomorrow...


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