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September 2003
Relationships
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September 2003
Relationships
Next week Deborah and I will load up the camper, hitch it up and head out of town for a very short break. We are gong to Kentucky and the Reed family reunion. There will be family and food...lots of each! Nieces and nephews that I have known since their birth will be there with their children and in some cases their grandchildren. My, how time has moved along. I don't understand how it is that they have grown so much older! Brothers and sisters will be there. They too have gotten so much older.
At some point in our being together someone will begin a conversation with: "Do you remember..." and then some great tale of a youthful blunder will be told about someone who wishes the whole thing could just be forgotten. I suspect, perhaps even expect, some of those stories will be about me. I know for a fact there are some of those stories out there.
That's the thing about being around people who have known you all your life. They know the details. Because they know the details it's hard to put on airs or live with any great pretense. Artificiality just won't stand the scrutiny of people who've seen you in diapers!
Some might find that kind of closeness threatening. They might feel that kind of knowledge is too personal. I am not among those who think that. In fact, I think just the opposite. I want to be with people who know me. I don't mind being reminded by people who love me of where I came from or where they fear I am headed. Being with people who have seen the good and the bad and yet love me is freeing, even when I disagree with the details of the story.
I look forward to this family reunion. I want to hear the stories. I want to tell the stories. I want to be with people who know me and love me and who would never tell a story to hurt me.
You may already have concluded this but that is also what I like about our Church community. I don't need to put on airs or pretend. You know what I am because I am like you, a sinner saved by grace. You may not know the details but you probably know many of the stories.
We are together a family of faith. Not one of us is greater or better than the other. We all stand in need of the grace of God and the love of Christian brothers and sisters. Together each of us becomes more than we could be individually.
So, let's live together as the people God has called us to be: Caring about one another, rejoicing in our triumphs, and prayerfully lifting the fallen.
See you in Church and Sunday School,
David