A More Holy Space....

Last night 18 people from One Spirit came together to give the chancel area of the sanctuary a "phase one" face lift. Within a few hours there was dramatic change. Gone were the old papers, lost candle lighters, broken CD's and tattered papers. Gone was the dust and the debris, some of which had accumulated over many years. Gone were the old plants that had seen there better days, plastic chairs that cluttered the space, and the bread racks so cleverly hidden to hold a sound system monitor.

Left was open space, the freedom to move, a cleaner more holy place. Somehow worship will be different this weekend. Some of the folks with bigger muscles moved heavy items and books, some organized new storage areas, some wiped down dust and vacuumed floors. Some polished pews and removed dirt from the heating registers, others moved simply around stacking and organizing so we could all get done. All brought their own gifts and performed wonderfully as a team.

As I laid in bed last night considering the considerable effort put forth, I thought about how this cleaning up to find a more Holy Space applies to our personal lives as well. I know I have lots of dust and old trash laying around inside that its frankly time to dispose of!

Maybe all of us have things that others can't see because they are simply hidden behind "the old plastic chairs" of our lives. Maybe its time to shine some light on those things that are crowding up the Holy Space in our lives, get out the vacuum and make a trip or two to the trash dumpster....you just never know, it might be time. Just a thought.....

TV, BBQ and wii

For the last two weeks I've been a full time student while trying to do my best as the Pastor to a wonderful community of believers at One Spirit. Early morning trips to St. Paul's School of Theology along with late night papers has taxed me over the last few weeks. Its like continued learning was trying to get in the way of ministry. But that's just not what happened. Thinking deeper about how our amazing Creator created us for relationship, loved us no matter how badly or often we screw up, made my time "away" very important. This weekend we watched a little TV, and I thought often of how far the kingdom sometimes is from the world we live. I felt a little closer as a Father when we broke bread at mealtime together. And finally as I watched the kids play their wii game they brought with them from St. Louis, I was reminded that practice makes us better. Sometimes we have to work hard at learning before we can hope for, as Connor might put it, "to win the Piston cup!" I'm praying for you One Spirit....that we can learn as we live and as we love.....just a thought...