"I don't like this program."
Grace Marie, Age 5
It was Sunday and attending the brick and mortar church was not an option because of illnesses tat had run their course in the family. But because of the wonder of online viewing, my brother and his family decided to log on to become part of the virtual congregation.
 Sunday best in the 70s A few years back, my cousins and I found ourselves reconnecting at yet another funeral. We caught up on our respective families and careers in the midst of mourning another loss. We had all grown up together, and had shared memories of cutting Sunday school class or hanging out at our grandmother's dining room table.
We decided to make our gatherings more deliberate. So we started meeting over lunch about once each month. Our monthly lunch was yesterday, and only one cousin was able to make it. Numbers, or the lack of same, are never indicative of success or failure. While enjoying the salad bar and a cup of filling soup the two of us talked about everything and nothing: church, current projects and football. We did not solve the sequestration problem or figure out how there would be peace in the Middle East. No, it wasn't anything heavy. After all, it was just lunch. I can't wait for next month.  I was marvelously blessed to travel to South Africa in September. I'm not sure what I expected, but it felt like going home.
I did not understand the languages (the nation has 11 official tongues!). I did not understand some of the British influenced idioms. But the smiles were universal. We were greeted with heartwarming exuberance, hugs and....smiles. A smile, I soon learned, would bridge any language barrier, smooth over any misunderstanding and welcome any stranger. I wonder why we don't smile more often? Have we become so conditioned to defensive communication that we have forgotten how to be welcoming? Perhaps I will try to be more welcoming. Perhaps I will try to be more inviting. Perhaps I will try to use an African smile... His response to my "thank you" tweet was brief: "Looking forward to pursuing wholeness together." Yet these words begged the question: how do we pursue-–look for–-wholeness? And how do we do it together?
I know that wholeness is a worthy goal, because Psalm 34:14 tells us to "seek peace and pursue it." The King James Version of Psalm 63:8 is more intense: "My soul followeth hard after thee." We are called to move actively towards God and towards Christ. Our faith is neither passive nor docile. . . . May we pursue wholeness together. Likewise, we are called to move towards each other. Our God loves community, relationships and fellowship. Jesus speaks countless times of His connection to God and His connection to us. We are the "branches" (John 15:5) to His vine. We are not disconnected. We are not alone. We have not been abandoned. . . . May we pursue wholeness together. What we ignore is that we must pursue wholeness in community. We live in a broken and lonely and isolating world. Too often, we fail to look past superficial smiles to the bleeding and wounded hearts occupying the pew next to us. We do not pursue the redemptive power of our community for ourselves or for others. Our desire for others’ healing and restoration is as superficial as the pasted smiles we wear on Sunday morning. We are not, in the words of the psalmist, "following hard" after God. We conceal ourselves from Him and from each other. We have replaced Adam and Eve’s fig leaves with our own emotional barriers, hiding our wounds from the God who could heal us. . . . May we pursue wholeness together. May we pursue wholeness together. Yes! May we, as one, be deliberate in our desire for, and our pursuit of, the healing, restoration and redemption available through the risen Christ. Yes! |
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