From the pastor….
Autumn… Fall…, is my most favorite time of year. Not sure why, maybe it is because by the time September rolls around I am tired of the hot weather, and the no schedule. Don’t get me wrong, I love summer and the time of vacations and new places, of late night talks and visits to the beach. But there is something about fall that calls me back to mystery of faith and life. The colors change, the breeze turns chilly, jeans and hoodies become the norm as opposed to shorts and flip-fops. The crisp air calls for fall bonfires. Football and soccer games pick back up in the backyard as well as on TV and on the pitch. Kids head back to school, and lives change as young people who have graduated move to new areas of life, college, or work, or the military. God has created a wonder, a mystery that is awe-filled.
Mystery, that is a good word, isn’t it? But what does it mean? Two definitions from the free dictionary on-line: qualities so obscure as to arouse curiosity or speculation: any truth that is unknowable except by divine revelation. A good mystery book is a great story, trying to figure out who did what to whom, why they did it and how it can change the world, or the lives of the people in the story. I love to read them.
By now you are saying, Why is she writing about mystery, how does mystery fit into faith? Mystery, for me, is what faith is all about. The mystery of all that God does in our lives. The mystery of how the words fit with the music and the silence. The mystery of the people of God and how we fit together as family, the mystery of the word and story, the mystery of God. The mystery of love and relationships, the mystery of stories of faith and the mystery of the Holy Spirit. They mystery of birth, and death, and the wonder of all of life.
I love how we experience mystery in worship and how the awe of silence fills the sanctuary. I love how after a beautiful song, the silence fills the awe. I love how the laughter of the children so excited feel God’s love. I love how young people experience mystery in their lives. I love to feel the mystery as we experience God’s grace together. The mystery of communion and the fellowship that pulls us together as God’s people.
I invite you to experience the mystery of faith together…..