Big Stuff

As I look back on the last few months it occurs to me how blessed I have been.  Of course, money has been tight and the family has had to struggle some to make ends meet, but it hasn't been horrible.  On the plus side has been the experience I'm accumulating.  I have learned, first hand, what the job market is like.  I am able to continue work in the far northwest community of South Bend.  As a substitute teacher I have the opportunity to enter into the school system here in Niles from which I gained an incredible esteem for our teachers.  I get to keep up my preaching skills by working as an itinerate preacher and this week I was privileged to officiate a funeral for a man I never knew.  Great experiences!

I have not been as committed to writing during this time as I would have liked.  All of these experiences, especially my community work in South Bend, can provide some guidance to clergy.  I just need to commit to writing it. That's the next goal.

The big stuff that is going on just hit me this past week.  I'm going to be responsible (with help) for a worshiping community in Elkhart.  What I think most people overlook is that each day we take on these huge responsibilities.  I am taking official leadership of a group, but each day we have the responsibility to be Christian leaders.  Every interaction that we have provides an opening into the life of another person and we can facilitate God's passage through that opening.

It's awe-inspiring to consider that God has appointed you to be an emmisary to the world, to those with whom you come in contact.  Your words and actions have the potential to bring life and light into the world.  From this perspective, every day is an awesome chance to do that big stuff.  Every day is a kingdom building victory and opportunity to do what God would have you do.  That's big stuff.

History

Advance warning!  This is not one of my better posts.  I hope you will understand as you read it, but it loses its way at the end.

This week I started my community ministry gig with two churches in South Bend.  I'm really excited about this and challenged, but other things put this onto the back burner.

The daughter of a friend was in a car accident and she is in the intensive care unit of Memorial Hospital with some brain injury.  I cannot imagine what it would be like to be those parents.  Fran and I have been trying to be present and involved offering faithful support. We pray for a miracle for Lauren.

For me this is especially difficult as I was in a car accident when I was 18 (a year older than Lauren).  I too had a brain injury and was in a coma for some days.  While I was comatose and not really aware, this experience is bringing a lot of those memories and feelings up.  "The accident" was a defining event in my life and I am in ways reliving that event.  I wish I could name and better examine what's going on with me, but I can only say that I am affected by this experience in ways I never thought I would be.

This has all started me thinking about the power of history and what those past experiences, even the ones vaguely remembered, do to us.  I guess I am wondering how society has experienced church or Christians and how that experience shades the common perception.  Certainly the news leads people to look at us askance.  I was talking with someone this week and they were telling me about a huge disappointment they experienced with a Christian person when they asked for help but that person told them no because they had to go to church.

As I am engaging in this community ministry I am struck by the need to live out the gospel rather than read it.  When we can sincerely live what we believe is when the world will start to change.  Now, though, the world we live in is beset with fear of others and social interaction.  It's almost as if society has taken on a life of its own and we feel powerless to do anything about it.  The sense that the world is greater than we are and so we cannot stop its movement, even when we disagree with the direction in which its going.  Hmm, started with memories and their power to move to accountability/responsibility.  I'm wondering how this fits.