Blessed be the tie that binds our
hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that
above. Before our Father’s throne we pour our ardent prayers; our fears, our
hopes, our aims are one, our comforts and our cares. We share each other’s
woes, our mutual burdens bear; and often for each other flows the sympathizing
tear. When we asunder part, it gives us inward pain; but we shall still be
joined in heart, and hope to meet again.
I will fulfill my vows to
the LORD in the presence of all His people. Psalm 116:16
So
as I was straightening up my brand new MacBook Air computer desktop this
morning, I clicked on that old neglected Eucharisteo
list…the one that I started typing after rereading the story of Jesus and the
ten lepers, when only one turned
back, praising God with a loud voice; and fell on his face at Jesus’
feet, giving Him thanks…and he was a Samaritan. And it’s kind of amazing. No, absolutely,
unconditionally really amazing. And some
of it is about creation or stuff, such as 10.
For the St. Francis fountain
and the sweet reminder of water, one of Your greatest gifts or 25. For dictionaries and words, their power
and beauty that touches our soul or 156.
For big bunches of flowers from our yard and the alley on the dining room table,
but most of them are for people, the people who have shared each other’s woes,
the people who our mutual burdens bear, the people whose hearts are bound in
Christian love, the fellowship of kindred minds.
119.
That Nicole encourages people to try new things that take
them out of their pre-misconceptions of their selves… like me and swimming and
Fred in running
105. That Alan is an amazing teacher
who puts in all of the necessary prep work to teach and inspire students and to
let them know they are important and what they are doing, learning is important
27. That Frederic is listening to
Your Love Never Fails right this moment and I can know it because of Spotify
and all that You have done and are doing in his life
71. For Lex Wilcox and how he didn’t
give up but allowed his pain to produce fruit in many pained lives, to allow
You to create beauty from ashes
92. For the beautiful black and
white tablecloth and the keen eye of Alene for beauty
257. For Dustin who will crawl under
a trailer and weld a gas line during the week and then build a kitchen for a
friend on his day off
298. For Janelle who is so sweet and
wise with a little boy frightened of Pippen
317. For Randy Reynolds being
faithful through the valley of the shadow of death
177. For Zach with his crooked smile
and idealism that will mature into a tree planted deep by the streams of life
355. For Jincheng’s broad smile as he
tries to follow my how-to-live-better instructions.
360. For the haunting passion of Ryan
Coykendall when he leads worship; who woulda thunk?
267. For quotes by G. K.Chesterton: "Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless,
absurdly happy, and in constant trouble."
264. For You at
work in far away places, and I want to especially thank you for an unknown but
faithful pastor of the immigrant church in Lugo
209. For the patience of Heather the
gardener who did not give up but who kept at it and a supportive husband who
kept digging holes until the yard was beautiful
397. For Jack and Mary Anne being
there every day to hear the ups and downs and rejoice
190. For Jerry Bowen who tries to do
the right thing even though the road is long
80. For Cameron and his journey and
his persistence to understand and weigh life and his gift to put it into lyrics
and music that haunts
250. For fiddle
players in the Ben’s Bells booth
And the thing about this list is
that it is just a tiny, very sporadic snapshot of God’s great goodness as lived
out by His Church. And there are literally hundreds of names and unnamed: Wise
Dre, Beautiful Pamela, and Faithful Momma and Faithful Sue to Full-of-Life
Italians, Kind Store Clerks, and A Gentle Nun to yes, even Wry Igor who visited
us from the pit of hell. And it is so easy for me to get my knickers twisted
out of shape by unmade phone calls or What We Believe statements that are far
too long and far too exclusionary for a Simple But What Is Sin-shattering community
breaking of bread and that is not at all about the Church and what really is
True.
God’s complex
wisdom is being worked out in the Church, that God purposes in His sovereign
will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything
that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in
Him.
The Weight of
Glory.
And I have made
some vows of in Whom my hope is placed in His presence and in the presence of
His people. And He is faithful and just and we will walk through this messy
workmanship fulfillment process together, with His Spirit that binds us
together.
We with a capital
letter.
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