You younger readers probably have no idea who these people are. "Click to read more...." and find out! You'll also find my last newsletter article about what it means to be "Brothers and Sisters" in Christ.
History Lesson: Larry and Balki were characters on a sitcom called "Perfect Strangers." Neil Diamond is the singer who made famous the song entitled "He ain't heavy; He's my brother." (ed. note- "Heavy" was a slang term for someone who was serious, boring, depressing, or detached.)
I included these two (ancient!) pop-culture references because the article below discusses the conflict between seeing this world as: 1) Full of 'perfect strangers' OR 2) Full of Brothers and Sisters.
Newsletter Article from November 2009
Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ!
It’s strange to say that sometimes, isn’t it? “Brothers and Sisters in Christ.” We look around our church and have to strain to remember which names go with which faces. We go into a world filled with strangers, who sometimes feel like enemies! And, yet, it is good and true to think of all these as Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
Pastor Scott recently made it possible for me to attend AFACT* leadership training. As part of our training, we were asked to look at the “World As It Is.” Then, of course, we imagined the “World As It Should Be.” Notice how we could “Look” at the world as it is, but we can only “Imagine” the world as it should be.
As you can probably guess, there was a pretty big difference between the two worlds. Faced with that truth, the truth that things are NOT as they should be, we are given two options: 1) We can work to change the world as best we can, or 2) We can change our understanding of “What Should Be.”
What does your gut tell you? What does the Gospel tell us? It seems like Jesus was about the business of changing both the world AND our expectations! Jesus came to DO something in this world, and he daily wakes us up out of our complacency.
So, we have the world as it should be: all of us Brothers and Sisters in Christ.
And we have the world as it is: a sea of strangers!
Since my arrival at Gloria Dei, many of you have invited me into your homes. The result of all these get-togethers? It feels more appropriate each day to address this community as my “Brothers and Sisters.”
What happens over the course of all those dinners and cups of coffee? We share stories! And, once we know each others’ stories, we become friends and family. We wear nametags at Gloria Dei, and that’s wonderful. But, stories put a face and a heart alongside those thin paper tags.
Story is important. Story changes “assemblies of strangers” into “communities of neighbors.”
Coming up in November, we at Gloria Dei will have a chance to do something to make this a more neighborly world!
On Tuesday, November 17th at 7:30 PM we will have a meeting and teaching session to prepare you all to write down a personal story of faith. Everyone is invited! Everyone is needed! We will pray together, discuss how the sharing of a story can make a difference, and talk about your role as leaders, ministers, and story-tellers in the church of Christ.
For those who cannot make the Tuesday night meeting, the same information will be shared that Saturday, November 21st at 11:00 AM. Both meetings will be held at Gloria Dei.
*(ed. note--For those of you who don’t know, AFACT is “Anchorage Faith in Action, Congregations Together.” It is a federation of faith communities in Anchorage partnering to do the social justice work to which Christ called us.)
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