Good Friday Evening!
Hope you are all well on this rainy evening. I rode with Jim to his inspections in Alabama today, and I was sleepy and generally glum all day until the sun came out just a mile or two before we got home. It’s amazing how the sunlight can affect our spirits. Sometimes that light comes from the actual sun, as was the case with me today. But just as often, light can come from within. We stopped at a restaurant for a late lunch. After sloshing through the parking lot them sparring with the hostess over table or booth, we just sat there like old married people…… looking at each other. I don’t know for sure, but I have a feeling we looked pretty pitiful. But our waitress came and brought with her such a lovely, authentically real smile that we both had to smile too. And by the time we left, we were 100% brighter!! That young woman was the real deal. She had a gift – the Bible refers to it as the gift of mercy. The special ability that God gives some to feel genuine empathy and compassion for others. She was kind and seemed to sense that we needed to be a little pampered – a little loved. I pray she continues to use her gift of mercy throughout her life. Especially in these days, the world needs mercy and kindness more than ever.
Have you ever thought about your gifts? What it is that God has given you that allows you to reach out to others and to be the most authentically real person you can be in the life of the church? You might be surprised! We will be talking about just that in our group study called “Discovering Your Spiritual Gifts.” It starts this Sunday right after church. Many of you have signed up already…… but if you have not, please know that it’s not too late. If you would like to come, please do! It is a four week study and we will be finished no later than 2:15 each afternoon.
So, Sunday’s comin’, and the choir is singing, Now Is the Time to Worship! And it is indeed! The world has been a little unsettling lately. I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like I had to just stop and sit down a time or two. To get my bearings and see what I needed to pay attention to and what I needed to ignore. That’s what we do in worship – we step out of the world and all its struggles and step into a holy place. A place where we can breathe, a place where we can open our hearts and let God’s mercy and love fill us up before we go back out into the world. Come! Please! We need God and we need each other. It’s not the same without you!
Please pray for me as I pray for you!
Blessings.
Rev. Martha