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Happy August, dear friends! It seems unreal that we are now 8 months into 2024. Time flies! Over the summer, we have spent a lot of time doing the GSB and listening to God through scripture passages. It's been our focus for the preaching text, and I've found myself thinking a lot about the way this theme seems to have lined up in other areas of life. God does this quite often, I am convinced.
As we've heard these stories, the prayer that I've shared all summer continues to resonate. Most of you are familiar with it, I hope, at this point, but for those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about, this is the prayer. O God, you've called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
I think I might have shared a bit about this prayer earlier in the summer. This prayer is special to me. It's one that I learned during my internship. My internship supervisor, Rev. Betsy Jansen Kamphuis, was a pastor in the North/West Lower Michigan Synod. She died last October of cancer, and I miss her every day. I miss her wisdom, her laughter, her faith, her guidance, her wisdom...I miss her. This prayer was one that she used as a benediction of sorts at the end of every Wednesday evening worship. And this prayer was embroidered and hung in her office where she could see it every day. It often would be one that she would point out to me during our conversations. I think the two phrases I heard most in her office were this prayer and her question, "Do you want to die on this hill?"
I think in many ways, this prayer for Betsy, and now for me, was a source of grounding. It set her focus in the right direction, and now I use it similarly. But I think Betsy also viewed this prayer as a blessing and a benediction from God, a word of comfort and hope that despite the unknowns, we can know that we go forth into life with God's blessing.
We close each worship service with a benediction, a bestowing of a blessing. And while this might seem like a strange benediction, certainly different from what we are used to hearing, I find deep comfort in it. The ambiguity of life can often lead us to assume or believe that the paths we have not yet gone down or that remain untrodden are void of God's presence. I don't believe this is true. The uncertainty of life can often lead us to believe or assume that God is far away and uncaring. I don't believe this is true.
My faith tells me that despite the ambiguity and uncertainty, God is always present, always near, always caring, and infinitely loving. Despite the unknowns of this life, what can be known is this: God is here. And God won't abandon.
Sometimes in life, the only assurance we have is that we are not alone. It's easy to feel that way. We live in a world that is quite efficient at making us feel alone and isolated. Yet, the faith we cling to assures us that nothing we face is something we face alone. It assures us that even the final path down which we tread, death itself, is not a lonely and solitary journey. It assures us that we have a partner for the journey even when it seems like everyone and everything else we know and love has jumped ship and gone another way.
But this reminder is also a call for us to cling to one another. It's a call for us to accompany one another. To guide one another down those paths. To support one another, knowing that our true support and strength comes from Christ. We look to Christ as our source of life and being, yes. We get life from nothing else. But friends, it's so much easier to walk down difficult paths if we aren't alone. We are called by God to love and support one another in times of difficulty. I think we can all come up with times when we have leaned on one another in times of struggle, and how much that helped. We are stronger together than we can ever be apart. Let us cling to one another with love. Let us hold one another in prayer and mercy. Let us walk together, remembering that we are, each of us, walking one another home. Home to God, home to relationship, home to peace, security, hope, and promise. Home. Let us walk one another home.
In Christ's peace,
Pastor Katie
As we've heard these stories, the prayer that I've shared all summer continues to resonate. Most of you are familiar with it, I hope, at this point, but for those of you who aren't sure what I'm talking about, this is the prayer. O God, you've called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us. Through Christ our Lord, Amen.
I think I might have shared a bit about this prayer earlier in the summer. This prayer is special to me. It's one that I learned during my internship. My internship supervisor, Rev. Betsy Jansen Kamphuis, was a pastor in the North/West Lower Michigan Synod. She died last October of cancer, and I miss her every day. I miss her wisdom, her laughter, her faith, her guidance, her wisdom...I miss her. This prayer was one that she used as a benediction of sorts at the end of every Wednesday evening worship. And this prayer was embroidered and hung in her office where she could see it every day. It often would be one that she would point out to me during our conversations. I think the two phrases I heard most in her office were this prayer and her question, "Do you want to die on this hill?"
I think in many ways, this prayer for Betsy, and now for me, was a source of grounding. It set her focus in the right direction, and now I use it similarly. But I think Betsy also viewed this prayer as a blessing and a benediction from God, a word of comfort and hope that despite the unknowns, we can know that we go forth into life with God's blessing.
We close each worship service with a benediction, a bestowing of a blessing. And while this might seem like a strange benediction, certainly different from what we are used to hearing, I find deep comfort in it. The ambiguity of life can often lead us to assume or believe that the paths we have not yet gone down or that remain untrodden are void of God's presence. I don't believe this is true. The uncertainty of life can often lead us to believe or assume that God is far away and uncaring. I don't believe this is true.
My faith tells me that despite the ambiguity and uncertainty, God is always present, always near, always caring, and infinitely loving. Despite the unknowns of this life, what can be known is this: God is here. And God won't abandon.
Sometimes in life, the only assurance we have is that we are not alone. It's easy to feel that way. We live in a world that is quite efficient at making us feel alone and isolated. Yet, the faith we cling to assures us that nothing we face is something we face alone. It assures us that even the final path down which we tread, death itself, is not a lonely and solitary journey. It assures us that we have a partner for the journey even when it seems like everyone and everything else we know and love has jumped ship and gone another way.
But this reminder is also a call for us to cling to one another. It's a call for us to accompany one another. To guide one another down those paths. To support one another, knowing that our true support and strength comes from Christ. We look to Christ as our source of life and being, yes. We get life from nothing else. But friends, it's so much easier to walk down difficult paths if we aren't alone. We are called by God to love and support one another in times of difficulty. I think we can all come up with times when we have leaned on one another in times of struggle, and how much that helped. We are stronger together than we can ever be apart. Let us cling to one another with love. Let us hold one another in prayer and mercy. Let us walk together, remembering that we are, each of us, walking one another home. Home to God, home to relationship, home to peace, security, hope, and promise. Home. Let us walk one another home.
In Christ's peace,
Pastor Katie
Pastor Katie’s New Office Hours:
(Also available by appointment)
Monday – 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday – 2:00 p.m. – 5::00 p.m.
Friday – Day Off
Saturday - 10:00 - 2:00
(Also available by appointment)
Monday – 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday – 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Wednesday – 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Thursday – 2:00 p.m. – 5::00 p.m.
Friday – Day Off
Saturday - 10:00 - 2:00