There's a serious set of gremlins that don't want me around. The internet got me again last night. This time, just fifteen minutes before I was to conference with all of the members in my church. I feel like a heel because I could do nothing except apologize on the Announcement. It's especially troubling that it would happen just hours after I'd managed our short sermon for the week. I felt pretty bad because there were several points I wanted to bring up. If the members pull up today, I'll go over the points individually and we can try to set up a time to toss ideas back and forth.
Today I slept in, if sleeping until ten minutes to seven is sleeping in for anyone. When I woke up, I watched my kids file out the door for the bus. It is awesome to see them able to do so much by themselves, even being dilligent with their time. I thought about a lot of things as I watched them go. When I was their age, friends were hard to find. One or two of my children have had the same problem, though not to the degree that I had. In the years when I went to high school, I wore big, clunky glasses, and braces on my teeth, that, already, gave two strikes against me. I wasn't even close to blonde, and I was second shortest in my graduating class. Yet, I had two close friends. One was extremely outgoing, a near genius, and the other was athletic and daring. Me, I was the bookworm, and, for the most part, the school outcast. In the past twenty years, I've only seen one of those two, and it has now been fifteen years since I did so.
I've spoken many times about friendship here. Just yesterday I played one of my favorite songs, Friends by Michael W. Smith, during my short sermon. It is the song that reminds me of those friends in high school, the friends in college, the first time I pursued ministry, and because of that I often remember the verse in the Gospel of John that reads: Greater Love Has No One Than This, That One Lay Down His Life For His Friends. John 15:13 NIV
There is another verse that goes right along with this verse. It came in my email today. It too is very, very true for me. Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! 1 Thessalonians 4:9 (MSG) There are so many verses that concern loving one another. It is this that concerns me. Why, with so much expressed throughout the scriptures, why do we IGNORE this factor to LOVE ONE ANOTHER and to TREAT OTHERS AS WE TREAT OURSELVES? Is it that we, even now, cannot like or love ourselves enough to express that love outwardly? I admit, sometimes I don't find myself to be the beauty my family members have said I am. Honestly, I had to ask my own husband why in the world he could call me beautiful. And, in almost ministerial fashion, he said, it's not what's outside that's beautiful, it's how your inner self shines through that is. And, truthfully, that reminds me of another part of the Bible, where David was anointed to be king of the Jews. David was no beauty, at least on the outside, his skin wasn't smooth or clear, or any of that. But, on the inside beat the heart of a man just, loving, and strong and gentle all at once. This is the heart I sure hope is beating in my body. A strong, gentle, loving and just heart, that reflects in my thoughts, my words, and my actions. Like the song Michael W. Smith sings, A LIFETIME'S NOT TOO LONG TO LIVE AS FRIENDS. This is the word and the light as brought to us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen and so it shall be.
Rev. Laura A. Neff
The Rainbow Minister
The Rainbow, a gift of friendship, covenant, and the promise of ages brought to Moses by our Heavenly Father. |
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