I know, I know. Things are very busy this time of year for so many of us - it's amazing how many things we allow to slip through the cracks. I've talked to several who have said that the mission run kinda slipped up on them this year and they hadn't heard as much, then are a little sheepish when reminded it's been highlighted prominently in our past two newsletters, in the bulletin the past 4-5 weeks, and mentioned in this e-mail for a few weeks.
However, I sympathize on so many levels. After all, who among us doesn't have a great deal of stuff occupying our time or preoccupying us mentally, physically, and emotionally? Almost on a daily basis, I realize there is stuff that I need to pay attention to that slips through the cracks because I have been focused elsewhere, and I know I'm not alone on this. Whether a meeting, a social event, someone's birthday, a mission run, a financial pledge made to this or that, a phone call that needed to be returned - we all miss things from time to time that we mean to do, and will catch up on as soon as we are reminded.
The ironic thing about this reality for many of us is that in the midst of our busy-ness during the past few weeks we have, far more than we realize, missed the true meaning of the season we are observing. This season of Lent, this season of reflection and introspection, has been lost at times because we delude ourselves into thinking we are too busy, and "when things slow down" we'll get back in 'routine'. What we fail to realize at these times is that if we are not intentional about ordering our lives in such a way that tending our souls, individually and through the life of the faith community known as the church, we will never get it done. If we are not intentional about making sure that we order our lives to where we focus on worship and sharing our lives together in Christ, we will have nothing to offer all the other activities that consume us.
One of the most seminal moments in recent years for me was the realization that not everything is going to get done. No matter how hard I try, there's always going to be one more call to return, one more letter to write, one more e-mail to compose, one more event to attend, one more person that I need to check with, etc., etc., etc. I realized that my challenge was not to make sure that I was all things to all people, but to make sure that in whatever I did, and in whoever I spent time with (family, friends, colleagues, church members, or anyone else), I was in the proper perspective.
So, cherished ones, as we head into the final 13 days of the holiest time of our year, take a breath. Get some perspective. Let us all covenant to be people who may be extremely busy or preoccupied, but people who can handle things not because of our own strength, but because we draw from the well of grace, mercy, and love found in Christ through the community he gave us for that purpose, his church. Let us find that strength by making it an absolute priority to worship, fellowship, study, and pray together SO THAT we may take Christ into all of our life and the lives of those we encounter daily.
See you Sunday!
Lamar
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