Wednesday Word . . . Checking In
I guess it may have been about a year ago when we were working toward acquiring new hardware to enable us to stream our services. We did some special fundraising and you may recall that a few of my former parishioners in Maryland helped us reach that goal. When all was said and done we ended up with a system that provides a very good viewing experience for those who worship with us from different locations.
In addition to Saint Luke’s people, I know of at least one of my former parishioners from Saint John’s who joins us online on a regular basis. Judy’s regular attendance has allowed her to get to know the people here at Saint Luke’s, although in a much different way than we would normally think of getting to know people. That familiarity led to an interesting exchange last week.
She sent me a message saying, “I have a couple of questions for you. First, I haven’t seen the couple with the two kids who sit up front on the right for a long time. Are they okay? Second, I haven’t seen the lady with the walking sticks who sits in the second row on the left. How is she?”
I let her know that both were okay: the family had summer rodeo and soccer, and the other person had car problems, but they would return.
This exchange got me thinking: what if we all had a little Judy inside us? What if we understood that our role in this community of Saint Luke’s was to keep tabs on each other, to check in when someone hasn’t been seen, and to ensure that all is well?
Let us remember that Jesus sought out the lost. Let us remember only that which we value goes missing or is lost. And let us remember that if a person 1700 miles away can check on people whom they notice missing from Sunday service, we can too.
All of us are vital members of this part of the body of Christ and we are diminished when one of us goes missing. May we reach out to others in love to check in and remind them that they are missed and we are here if there’s a need.
Blessings,
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