From
Pastor Kim …
GOD’S LOVE NOTE
Two months ago, I worshipped
at East Lawn United Methodist Church in Pascagoula, Mississippi.
I was there as part of a Volunteers in Mission team helping to rebuild
the area. Before worship started, I
asked the woman behind me where she had been when Hurricane Katrina hit.
Here’s Judy’s story:
“Well,” she said,
“I’m not proud of my ignorance. I
was one of the ones that thought I didn’t need to evacuate, that I would be
all right. And then the water
started coming into my one story home. And
it kept rising. I had no place safe
to go. So I crawled out the window
and started swimming towards church.”
Judy made it…although it
was quite a swim. The water was
often over her head, and she was swimming against the current. She clung to bits of wood or debris to rest during the
several hours of swimming.
I have thought of her story
often. In some ways, Judy’s story
reminds me of our individual journeys of faith. When we get stuck in deep waters, we look for safe places to
go. And often we think of the
church. We hope the church, God’s
home, will offer us safety, refuge, comfort and hope.
And the journey to get to a
church is sometimes challenging. It
requires something of us. We meet
resistance…from ourselves, or people around us.
Sometimes it feels like we cannot fit one more commitment into our full
and busy lives. Yet we
persevere. Something inside us
yearns to know that God is real and here. Our
longing to find meaning and purpose keeps us searching for something bigger than
ourselves. Like Judy, we
instinctively head toward the church when we are in over our heads.
And so this Easter Sunday,
we will gather at worship once more. We
will celebrate the reality of Life, the power of God’s Presence here on earth.
Join us! Even if it means
swimming against the current of your normal Sunday routine, join us! If church is a part of your regular routine, invite a friend
or neighbor to join you. Prayerfully
consider who you might ask, who in your life yearns to find safety and
nourishment and community. With
hope and gratitude, let us recognize how very real and here God is!
Let us celebrate together the Easter message:
The Divine Presence is here with us, and within us!
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Lynnewood United Methodist Church
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