In the early 1970s, fresh out of college and filled with the hope that I could be a part of making the world a better place, in addition to teaching in our local elementary school, I became part of an after-school program for children in my home town, a little community nestled in the mountains of southeastern Kentucky. The program was an ecumenical effort of Presbyterian, Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic and Disciples of Christ churches, and the local African American churches of many denominations as well.
We called ourselves “The Thursday Afternoon Program” or “TAP.” Children would come after school on Thursdays for Bible study, with a rotation of Music, Recreation, Drama, and Crafts from week to week. We also had a time of helping with homework and we had supper together, sitting at the table with “our TAP family.” Many families had three generations involved in this effort – for example, my mother helped with the music, I was one of the teachers, and my children, in years to come, would be a part of TAP as well. The program ran for 13 years, and as the children reached Junior High age, they moved up to become a part of the Saturday Night Youth Group. From that group of “TAP” children came the next Superintendent of Schools, several physicians and nurses, teachers, health care workers, and many others whose lives were the fruit of our efforts together during those years.
I remember thinking that this was the best of my “church” experiences at that time – working together with all kinds of folks in all kinds of ways, neighbors helping neighbors, meeting mid-week during the busy-ness of all our lives. I remember one year our lessons were from the Book of Acts, and how the children loved acting out the stories of the early church recorded in that book. Everything about each lesson was so alive, real, and believable!
This summer, I’m preaching on “Love’s New Day” – the early church’s call in Christ’s commission to preach the gospel “in Jerusalem, in all Samaria and all Judea and to the ends of the earth.” As I prepare from Sunday to Sunday, I’m remembering those children all those years ago and the lessons we learned, shared and lived together.
We sang “Scripture Songs” in those days, and I remembered one and shared it in worship yesterday. The song comes from Acts 3, telling the story of the lame man who was healed by Peter and John at the gate to the temple which was called Beautiful:
“Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I thee!
In the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk!
He went walking and leaping and praising God!
Walking and leaping and praising God!
In the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk!”
It was a blessing to me as the Jackson Springs congregation stood and “echoed” this song back to me – as we all made our “lame” attempts at “walking and leaping and praising God!” How very special to share this memory with God’s children in another time and place, and to ponder once more just what the church has to “give” to a world so in need!
“Such as I have, give I thee,” Peter said to the lame man. “In the name of Jesus Christ, of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Just how can we flesh out those words in daily life? Just how can we “in Jesus’ name” give, so that others can move toward healing and wholeness? Is it about feeding the hungry or providing affordable housing and health care? Is it about addressing the problem of addiction and mental health issues by providing care for treatment and recovery and rehabilitation? Is it about encouraging and supporting parents and children at risk? Is it about working with other churches in our area to make life better for our neighbors?
“Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful.
Kindle in them the fire of your love.
Send forth your Spirit, and they shall be created.
And You shall renew the face of the earth.”
I give thanks for memories of God at work in the past, for the possibilities of God at work today, for the promise that in time, God will make all things new, and for those “streams of mercy, never ceasing.”
Elizabeth
In conversations with folks from all the churches I’ve served, the phrase “journey of life and faith” always comes up….and the words “ love and grace.” Seems I’ll be remembered as helping them to see that we are on a journey of life and faith, and God’s love and grace accompany us day by day. I once read that when we journey through the years of our lives, we wonder at times, if we’re walking away from our past, or walking toward our future. Sometimes it’s one or the other; other times it’s both at the same time! Depends on our perspective at the moment! What’s important is not to miss “today.”
In recent months, I’ve been enjoying “The Walk” by Richard Paul Evans. “The Walk” is a series of five books about a man’s unrelenting search for hope, the journey he makes and those he meets along the way. These books are love-filled spirit-lifters, and one actually misses the characters when the journey is complete.
“In the end, it is not by knowledge that we make our journeys, but by hope and faith: hope that our walk will be worthy of our steps and faith that we are going somewhere.” (from Book 5, Walking on Water)
I was reminded of an experience in a former congregation, as I taught a class of faithful older adults - I always felt they taught me more than I taught them! That Sunday I was teaching a unit on God’s promises in the Old Testament and had written columns of events with a bracket above all the way across the board, and the words of Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
After I had detailed the keeping of that promise to Israel, we began to think about the promise in relation to our own lives. From the back row a gentleman spoke: “Even to Duke Hospital. Even to Duke Hospital?” You see, he had a brain tumor and was leaving soon for surgery in the coming week. Into moments of faith-filled silence I will never forget, the entire class, in one voice of love and hope replied, “Even to Duke Hospital!” We all left the class that day filled with love and hope, knowing we had been in the presence of the Holy. Our friend went to Duke, had the surgery, but was never able to come back home to us. He journeyed “Home” surrounded by his loving family. On his marker is inscribed Joshua 1:9: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Each time class members visit his grave, they are sure to add….. “even to Duke hospital….even Home.”
Wherever we are on our journeys of life and faith – walking away from our past or walking toward our future, let us journey with love and grace, and help each other along the way, and let’s not miss “today.”
Let us give thanks for all God’s children who are a part of our journeys of life and faith, for the assurance that the Lord our God is with us wherever we go, and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing.
Elizabeth
I read each issue of The Presbyterian Outlook from cover to cover – for encouragement and challenge, for a voice of reason amid the rancor of public discourse in our day, for news of churches in many places living lives worthy of their calling.
Jill Duffield’s editorial, “Milestones and Moment” is memorable. She tells of learning to focus less on “milestones” and more on “moments.” I used both of those words in yesterday’s service, as we honored our only high school graduate and baptized the infant grandson of a church family.
Knowing that this infant grandson lives in another city, we made our promise with these words – “Relying on God’s grace, do we, as members of the church of Jesus Christ, promise to pray for this child, that he would come to know and follow Christ, and while we will not hold him in our arms, from week to week, do we promise to hold him in our hearts, praying that he might know the love of God and God’s people wherever he is? Do we so promise?”
With one loved-filled voice, we so promised! We found ourselves at a moment and a milestone – a moment of grace in baptism, and a milestone in this child’s journey of life and faith.
Our mission story usually carries us far away from Jackson Springs, but this Sunday as, one by one, the children spun our world globe – instead of stretching the ribbon from Jackson Springs to another corner of God’s creation, we came back around to Jackson Springs. Our high school graduate and his teen-age sister sat among the children on this special occasion and we reflected on how quickly they had grown, and how quickly the children sitting around them would grow up as well.
We found ourselves once again at a moment and a milestone – a moment of celebrating one of our own growing up and a milestone in his life’s journey, his graduation from high school.
I read from “All I Really Need to Know I learned in Kindergarten,” by Robert Fulghum. According to Fulghum, “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be, I learned in kindergarten. These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don’t hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
Say you’re sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life – learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work, every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.”
As we marked these milestones together in worship today, I was reminded of all the precious moments that pave the way for such milestones. May God help us not to miss the moments along the way! Let us “mark with abandon the milestones, give thanks relentlessly for the moments, and live in such awareness of our blessings that we cannot help but be a blessing to others in their milestones and moments.”
Giving thanks for milestones and moments and for those streams of mercy, never ceasing!
Elizabeth