Dear Caldwell,
Popular culture runs on all kinds of time frames, most of which have less and less to do with God and faith. We view Monday as the real start of the week. We mark Wednesday as ‘hump-day,’ the half-way point to the weekend. By Friday we’re thinking about the weekend, then the blur of Saturday, maybe some quiet time on Sunday (maybe) and, before we know it, it’s Monday morning again and we’re back at it.
As children of God and people of faith, God invites us into a different, counter-cultural pattern that begins each week on Sunday with the act of worship and reflection. Furthermore, the church proffers the perhaps preposterous idea that it might provide some spiritual fuel for the week, enough to get you from one Sunday to the next. In this continuous news-cycle, uninterrupted media, short-attention span world of ours, this might strike some as a tragically outdated proposition – the notion that one or two key thoughts or ideas about life with God might actually be worth holding onto for an entire week.
So, call me naive, but I would like to think otherwise. I would like to think that you might find something to hold onto, a connection to God that reminds you of an alternative weekly rhythm, one that connects you Sunday to Sunday. With that in mind, I will recast my blog, starting today. Now that Caldwell This Week is being distributed via email each Thursday as a source of general church news to those whose emails the church has, I will blog mostly on Tuesdays, attempting to remind us what we did the Sunday before and how that might connect to the upcoming Sunday.
Last Sunday in her sermon, Pastor Evie shared her experience at the World Council of Churches meeting and made a passionate call for each of us to think about – and minister to – those “on the margins.” There are all kinds of margins our society pushes people to – places where it’s easy to feel forgotten, misunderstood, cast out or even crushed. As you go through your week, you might look for those folks, whether their margin relates to their ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical ability, perspective, mental health, financial status, dress, political outlook or religion. Look hard and think: Is there really that much that differentiates you from him or her, them from the crowd? Can you – yes, you – do something to close whatever gap culture has placed between them and others, say a word, offer a hand, a kind gesture or just, for starters, real eye contact?
To be sure, Jesus lived on – and ministered to – those on the margins, a peasant Jew in a rapidly developing, corrupt Roman culture, a man of devout faith in a time when pagan gods and political connections ruled the day, even in his own Temple. How can we look to Christ’s life to find examples of how to live with integrity and faith when so many things in the the rest of the surrounding culture seem headed in the opposite direction? What kept Jesus grounded in his identity and sense of purpose? Prayer, discipline, strength, courage, hope and confidence in the Lord? Other things? On the church calendar, this coming Sunday is the final Sunday of this liturgical year – “Christ the King” Sunday (alternatively called “Reign of Christ” Sunday). It will be a time for us to peel back the layers and layers of crusted and often misleading meanings that have been added to the Gospel and dig a little for some core truth about Jesus, or at least to begin (again) that process.
Some other news and notes:
- Can you make a meal or give a night to help provide shelter for those who are homeless? If so, our Room in the Inn coordinator Carol King would love to have your help. Sign up here and Carol will be in touch: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C4FA4A629AB9-room/2255719
- Many of us make time in the day for some devotion or reflection time. Peg Robarchek has invited us to join with others across our state by reading a new “Prayer for North Carolina” offered each day by Our State Magazine. The December issue features a new prayer each day from a wide range of NC clergy, along with other resources and materials. You can join in here: http://prayer.ourstate.com
- If you did not see Beth Van Gorp’s update on the Dream Team’s summation of the congregation’s thoughts about our ministries and possible future endeavors, a copy is posted on our website here:http://www.caldwellpresby.org/3d-dream-team-meeting/
- If you are coming to yoga tonight (6:30), it is in Belk Hall (the gym).
- Finally, here again is a link where you can help address the profound need for aide in the Philippines (there was a problem with a previously provided link):https://www.presbyterianmission.org/donate/make-a-gift/DR000012/?appeal=PDA&package=TH13-AB
In Christ,
John