A Rich and Full Life

That is what I often say about my life - it is rich and full.
This weekend is certainly a prime example of that. And the richness had more to do with my being present (but not in leadership) in several worship experiences.
I went to a funeral and wedding and at our church, I did not preach.

The funeral was for a young man who was a great buckeye fan. we were encouraged in the obituary to wear buckeye attire (game against Penn State later that day with OSU won). I wore my red Ohio State sweatshirt. The funeral was different and wonderful. It was not necessarily "Christian" but very spiritual in its own way. It included some scripture but many songs (on CD) to reflect his love of music. It started with the OSU fight song and then we heard "Morning has Broken", "On Eagle's Wings" and "Turn, Turn, Turn." At the end his sister did the Ohio Script. you had to be there because it all worked and was meaningful.

The wedding was for a young couple that met in my home a couple of years ago at a Bible study. They are part of the Advance Conference camping program for young adults. I did not officiate but did a reading from "Tuesdays with Morrie." I loved watching the way that Allen Harris does a rehearsal and a wedding. I am still learning (like to tell the bridal party not to drink until after the wedding!) The wedding was at Northwest Christian Church where I was ordained. Lots of memories for me.

Yesterday at church was "Consecration Sunday" when we invite the congregation to make a financial pledge to the life of the church for the coming year. Charles Montgomery, our pastoral associate preached a tremendous sermon. He ended with a "Youtube video" about a runner (can't remember his name even though I saw it twice!)
who got hurt during a race and limped to the finish line with his father coming out of the stands to help him. Both times I found myself in tears.

The one special thing that I did was a baptism at the 5 PM service of Connie who has just joined our church. It was all about new beginnings. What was most powerful to me was that she is afraid of the water, but she went into the baptismal and trusted me enough to put her under for a second. Words can never express what this feels like and what it means.

I write this on my day off. Today I will see my spiritual director and then Chuck and I are driving to Toledo for calling hours for Harv's sister and then to attend the funeral mass tomorrow.

It is good to have a morning to just be - to ponder and reflect on all of this. What I have learned for all of us with our rich and full lives - we have to have some margins to just be and rest and allow our souls to catch up.