Observations From Hadleyville: fellowship. love

Monday, June 11, 2012

THE BODY OF CHRIST

Yesterday, at the end of worship services, I made the official announcement to my congregation that I have cancer. After sharing the details I asked the Deacons to anoint me with oil and pray for healing according to the Scriptures ("Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up."James 5:13-15)

We placed two chairs for Karen and I at the front and the Deacons did a wonderful thing. "Because the Body is One," Sherman said, "We should all come and pray for our pastor." the entire church body surrounded us and prayed for my bride and I. We were overwhelmed. People whom I'd never heard pray before lifted heart-felt prayers for us both.

Over the years I have not been impressed with my pastoral skills. I can preach, but I hate administrative chores. I am not a Sanguine, glad-handing, people-person. I am a timid, cold-call witness. I've often wondered if I would be missed. Yesterday, my church family humbled me to my core.

Afterward, I regretted the fact that we had no photograph of the event. But that is often how life is. When you are in the midst of the wonderful, who thinks to stop it all for something as mundane as a photo opportunity?

"Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free —and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many... If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 26

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WORDS OF WISDOM FOR WRITERS

The secret of becoming a writer is that you have to write. You have to write a lot. You also have to finish what you write, even though no one wants it yet. If you don't learn to finish your work, no one will ever want to see it. The biggest mistake new writers make is carrying around copies of unfinished work to inflict on their friends.

I am sure it has been done with less, but you should be prepared to write and throw away a million words of finished material. By finished, I mean completed, done, ready to submit, and written as well as you know how at the time you wrote it.
-Jerry Pournelle

WHAT'S THIS HADLEYVILLE THING?

Those of you familiar with Mark Twain’s works might recognize my blog title. As Samuel Clemons grew older, he became increasingly disillusioned with humanity. Towards the end he began referring to the Damned Human Race; employing the secular and religious epithet at one stroke.

I find I’ve not reached that level of despair myself. I still believe in redemption and I still see signs of nobility even among we fallen, damned creatures. So, I could not bring myself to call this blog “On the Damned Human Race.” I do however, resonate with another of Clemmons stories; “The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg.” And viola, there you have it. “Observations From Hadleyville.”