Why I Go to Church

(This is what I wrote for my Readers and Writers Group that meets monthly.  It is similar to my last post.)  

 

It is a new year and I always enter into the idea of newness and starting over and beginning again. I have my resolutions for this year:

1.      Read Daily

2.      Write Daily

3.      Play a game with John (or someone) every day

At the same time I have an awareness of the both the mystery of the unknown and the predictable routines of ordinary life.  It’s a new year and yet I am getting older and more forgetful and living with fatigue.  It’s a new year and yet I will still have chemo every three weeks, it’s a new year and I will still have my blood tested regularly and wait in suspense as the effectiveness of the chemo versus cancer will be revealed. These  mundane realities can certainly overshadow any thought about mystery and miracles and even joy.

But then what breaks the cycle of what I will call faux optimism is what happens to me at church.  I heard words in the opening prayer that stirred something in my soul:

Open us to a new awakening, a new beginning,

Where we look through the lens of the goodness of your creation,

Experiencing all possibilities in You

Turn us away from the negative lens and lead us to the light…”

And then I heard the sermon that broke me open.  Rev. Becky  spoke about how God is always communicating with us – not only in church but also in nature.  Not a new idea and certainly I could have preached it myself.  But this morning I heard her talk about the stars that the Wise men/astrologers were seeking and she spoke of that GPS we have within us seeking something.  And that there is God doing something new with us – bringing light into the darkest places. Bringing change, healing, and love.    And we need to   come and see.

So I came away from the service with a sense of expectancy. God is potentially doing something new – with me, with you, and with everyone.

And so I added a fourth resolution.  Come and see that I am here with you making all things new.   Every Day

HAPPY NEW YEAR