SATURDAY, MARCH 7
Matthew 22:37-39 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
As I start my third year as a member of session, one of the things that has surprised me most is that I, who thought I disliked meetings, actually enjoy attending session meetings. The reason is the pleasure I feel sitting in a room full of people who are truly acting responsibly.
Apparently, being responsible is not as common as it should be. We’ve seen that dramatically in recent months as the painful results of irresponsibility by people in business and politics have come to light.
The new President has called for a return to responsibility, but here at First Presbyterian Church, it seems to me we’ve never left it.
I see the elders, even when they disagree on strategy, working hard to spend our money wisely and realistically, making sure we can support the programs we want with enough left over to be generous in helping the community around us. They understand these are hard times, but they’re also creative and energetic in finding new sources of funding and encouraging the congregation to offer as much as they can. To see this in action is a beautiful thing.
To me, this way of being responsible is really a form of love – and a sign of following our faith. It’s caring both for ourselves and for other people. It’s a living out of Jesus’ commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves.
Prayer: Dear Lord ,thank you for making us a caring community where we are truly responsible to ourselves and to those around us. Give us the wisdom and strength to continue our work for this church and the larger world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Barbara Hoover
powered by phplist v 2.10.8, © tincan ltd
No comments:
Post a Comment