h2odevos encores 032012 Rest Area

Comfort and joy the spirit brings

In darkest trials drink from the spring

Hear the promise that 
no time could ever hold

That's forever, for young and old

Stirrin' Up The Water by Peter Mayer

I am very pro-church. I suppose you would think that should be a requirement of my job. Perhaps it is a mandatory feeling and or stance. However, I will also say that I know very well the institutional church's shortcomings and frailties. Church is a divine institution while comprised of human beings. Therein lies the blessings and the challenges.

Church can be described by lots of metaphors and images. One of the ones I really like is that of a rest area. Along the journey of life, there are those places and spaces where we need to have some time to be refreshed and rest. A sanctuary where we can stretch our legs, have something to eat, check the map, get a drink of water and be relieved.

I'm hoping your experience of church is a positive one. If it isn't, I apologize for that and hope to do my part in making it better. At the same time, I know many of you work hard to make your congregation a welcoming and hospitable place, an area of rest and shalom.

God promised,

"I am about to do a new thing;

      now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

      I will make a way in the wilderness

      and rivers in the desert.

20The wild animals will honor me,

      the jackals and the ostriches;

      for I give water in the wilderness,

      rivers in the desert,

      to give drink to my chosen people," Isaiah 43:19-20

The next time you go by a church or to church, my hope is that it is a place connected to God's new thing. I pray the "plumbing" is working.

See you in church,

Peace,

 rtg