The One Anothers of This Life

December 10, 2019

          The new prayer in my morning devotion had this line: ​

Bring us back to You,
show us the way to You
and to one another
through Him who is our way, 

which got me to thinking about how the way to God is through one another, all the One Anothers, most especially the One Anothers who are most different from myself, since none is so different from me as the Divine themself who cast off that difference to trail the stars and cast themself as one of us.

          This thinking got interrupted by the hissing and growling going on behind my chair where three other one anothers were in the midst of their own version of this drama.
          Otto is an 11-year-old shelter cat my daughter adopted on Saturday.  Of course, he has bonded with me.  And my desk, weirdly.  He loves my desk.  Here he is kissing the Bible, suggesting this is his first Baptist home.  We are also his first dog home, and in the four days he’s been here, today is their first to be in the same room.  Nobody has been scratched or bitten, just hissing and 

growling as they establish who is in charge.  We all know who will be in charge.  Still, it’s interesting to watch them work it out, acknowledging that it must be worked out in order for us to live together as a household.
​          Oh that our own species might be as wise, rather than forever pretending our one anothers don’t exist, instead remembering that we are bound together in one household, beholden to each other for more than we even know.  Albert Einstein wrote, “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depend on the labours of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving.”  (The World As I See It, New York; Kensington Publishing Corp., 1956; p. 3)
          More than fellow laborers, we are one anothers’ sisters and brothers, or sheep of the same Shepherd,  which was today’s devotion point.  Only a Shepherd made of Love would leave ninety-nine safe lambs to rescue one in danger.  So in search of the one, Love stripped Itself of heaven and trailed His way to earth, ready to befriend whoever is crazy brave enough to reach for Love by loving Him.  What a story friends, what a life we share.  

~ peace & prayers, 
pastor annette 

Church News to Remember:

          The Choir Cantata, Special Called Business Meeting, and Cookie Exchange are all coming up this Sunday, December 15.  We look forward to hearing the cantata “Sing Christmas” by Joel Raney and Mary McDonald during our worship service at 10:45 AM.  After the service, we will have a Special Called Business Meeting for the purpose of voting on the 2020 budget which was presented at the Thanksgiving Celebration on November 24.  At the same time, you may participate in a cookie exchange by bringing a few dozen homemade cookies.  Everyone can enjoy some cookies, even if they did not bring any.

          Holiday Benevolence ~ our goal is to raise $1000 to assist the small churches in Texas that are providing food and shelter for immigrants across the border, who are waiting on their legal asylum court dates in the United States.  Read more about this mission and how our dollars can help, on the linked webpage.