National news in the last two weeks has been filled with the Olympics, politics and tragically, the shooting rampage in Aurora, Colorado. Reports about the alleged shooter in have begun to paint a picture of a lost young man who had become a loner.
Why and how that happens is a mystery. We can be surrounded by people on a daily basis and still not be in relationship with one another. Numerous studies site the benefits of being in relationship with one another.
I will site my favorite: Matthew 22: 37 - 40: Jesus said, " Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence. This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: Love others as well as you love yourself. These two commands are pegs; everything in God's law and the Prophets hangs from them." The Message
Clearly we are hardwired to be in relationships, first and most important with the Lord God Almighty and next with each other.
In the spring of 2008 I wrote the following which appeared in Sugar Land First United Methodist Church's Care and Prayer Newsletter.
Care "Net Working"
Several years ago Charlie and I had the privilege of owning a beachfront home in Galveston, Texas. Following a storm a net from a large fishing vessel washed ashore and was partially buried in the sand. It fascinated me. I tugged as hard as I could trying to dislodge it from the sand dune. When it would not budge I briefly considered returning to the house to get a saw and cut off a piece of it. I discarded the idea thinking that it would always be a sandy mess. Since that time I have been sorry that I did not try to preserve a portion of the net.
Why?
As I continued my walk that day and in the years since I have thought about Jesus telling His disciples that He would make them fishers of men and I have thought about that charge to us as His followers. I have thought about the net and how it relates to our charge to be fishers of men.
The net was huge. Each rope, in my memory, was as large as a man's wrist. The ropes were a florescent color that would be very visible in the worst weather conditions. The net was woven in such a way that each part moved so that if a strain was put on one portion of the net the rest would be drawn toward the strained area.
Caring for each other in a Christan community of believers is like that net. We should be highly visible so that we can be seen in the storms that assault people's lives. Like the net we should be joined together and flexible enough to move to give support to those who are experiencing storms in their lives. We may be the next one to weather a storm and we may need the net to move in our direction.
I wish I had saved the net! Sandy mess and all it would have been worth the trouble to have the visual as a reminder of our call: Love the Lord your God and love your neighbor as your self. When trouble comes you will be glad you had help or were there to help another.
Prayer:
Lord, first, thank you for the gift of Your Son, Jesus the Christ who gave His life in exchange for ours so that we can confidently approach You. Please, make us highly visible, glaringly fluorescent, in the midst of the storms that assail the lives of our friends and neighbors. Show us which direction to move so that we support our brothers and sisters in Christ when they need us and finally keep our hearts open to see and move towards those who need to know You. Amen
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