Sandol
Stoddard in The Hospice Movement, quotes Dr. Cicely Saunders: “We learn, for example that time has no fixed
meaning as such. An hour at the dentist
seems like forever, but an hour with someone you love flies past. And yet, wait a little and look back on
it. The hour of discomfort and anxiety
is totally forgotten. What we remember is
the hour of love.”
The hour
of love is the hour when God’s creature, time and el’s human creatures like us
collaborate with each other.
Madeleine
L’Engle
__________________________________
on Sunday mornings people gather
and sing (as CS Lewis once said)
fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music
and share joys and concerns and ponder the mystery of the
Sacred
and drink coffee (and tea) and eat cookies
on Wednesday nights
people struggling with addiction
gather to share stories of triumph and failure
to be as honest with each other as they can be
every day
in every way
at every time
human creatures gather
we gather in store aisles and share the latest
we gather in coffee shops and do lunch
we gather in hospital rooms and pray
as people we love
are knock, knock, knocking on heaven’s door
we speak sometimes of intentional communities
but the truth is
our lives are marked by interdependence
and the fuel for our souls
is community
community is our life
each of us gathered
making sure that the other is taken care of
that they have what they need to not just survive
but flourish
that is how we were designed to live
each of us gathered
filled with Sacred Presence
permeated with love
using our gifts for one another
coming together to make a whole
dare we say a living organism
a body
the body
of Christ?
that is not intentional
that is our natural state
we image bearers
we do not bear the image alone
but together
when in sanctuaries, dusty and musty
in church basements and grange halls
in coffee shops and bakeries
in hospital rooms
and living rooms
we gather
for the hour of love
and the Sacred fills our hearts
and fills the room
and binds us together
as one
No comments:
Post a Comment