Pastor's Desk-September 2006

Christmas Letter to the Congregation 2007

The Advent season offers us a unique opportunity for reflection. Some of the central themes of worship during the Advent and Christmas Seasons revolve around repentance, redemption, spiritual preparation, and eternal hope. We worship and serve together as a congregation while remembering the holiness of Jesus breaking into the world and becoming our Savior. At the same time, and sometimes even in the same breath, we reconcile these holy movements in our life with a circus of activity that is not always so peaceful and holy. What a contrast to have a reflective, spiritual moment in worship followed closely by the tension of populated retail markets, crowded roadways, and pressure to measure up to our hectic schedules and obligations. Sometimes I struggle to bring fresh, spiritual perspective to our Sunday worship when I get caught up in the frenzy of the season. However, I was given a gift during the Advent Season of 1995 that changed my life. I remember this as both a joyful memory and a memory that helps me maintain my spiritual center.

In July of 1995, I visited patients weekly at the Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville , Kentucky . I met twelve-year-old Ethan who had been hit by a car and was in a coma. I was assigned to spend time talking and reading to him in the hopes he would regain consciousness. I assisted the nurses in his care and over the following weeks continued to talk and read anything and everything in hopes of his regaining consciousness. He did. Just before Christmas, he woke up. At first he did not remember our times together, but the truth that he was awake and we had spent time together did not change. Some days I wondered if my presence was known or significant, but most of the time it was utterly amazing to be a part of someone’s life in this way. Unfortunately, he did not have any biological family to care for him, however the hospital staff and volunteers became his family and embraced him as their own. My participation in his care and recovery changed me forever. He woke up, and in a spiritual way, I did too.

The human family is a powerful family. We have the potential to inflict tremendous blessing or tremendous cursing. We can heal, and we can hurt. As we journey through this season, I encourage each of us to look with wonder at the possibilities around us to care for one another. We get to take care of each other. It is a privilege, the greatest privilege, and we get to do so for the greatest reason -- Christ first loved and cared for us.