New Meaning for the Future

A week ago at this time I was just arriving back from Wesley Woods, still savoring the crisp Wisconsin morning air, bright blue waters of Lake Geneva, and boisterous voices of children and teens that are all a part of our congregation's annual church camp.  

It was, as always, a joy to work with John Smoke and Howie Snyder, and the great team of volunteers from our church; to enjoy seeing the campers zoom down the slip-and-slide, take turns kayaking, or share stories of the day over the dining hall tables.

And there were certainly memorable moments for me in the segment of camp Anne Kehoe and I led - Bible study. One of the images still in my mind that came from the week was that of the campers responding to the words of Jesus to "Go into all the world..." in God's love, to connect with, welcome, and be transformed by relationships with others; knowing that Jesus will be "with you always, to the end of the age"  (Matthew 28:18-20). Each person placed a small candle on a map of the world, on a place they especially cared about, and then gathered in a circle around the map to pray from their hearts for the people and needs represented there. 

I have heard those words of scripture many times, but found new meaning for the future in them as I experienced them being heard afresh by those young people.

On the 4th of July we celebrate the gifts of our nation in delightful ways - cookouts and friends, and fireworks, and music. And we hear again the words of inspiration and identity from long ago that were written by the colonists as they were becoming a nation - words that need to be heard afresh and applied in deeper and deeper ways in each generation.

This Sunday, we'll be hearing words from scripture, in Deuteronomy 10:12-22, that were meant to help form the people of God into a nation of hope in the world. The people of Israel returned to those words in later generations to hear them afresh and understand their meaning for a new age.  "And now, O Israel - what does the Lord require of you?   Only this...to revere, to walk, to love, to serve, to keep the commands of God...for your own well-being...and to love the stranger, for you once were strangers, too."

See you Sunday - and may you have a happy and meaningful 4th!