Sunday, December 6, 2009

Dear God,

All these months I have searched for a church home. In my wanderings I have found great refuge and comfort in the Catholic Church. The ritual, the gestures, the structure, and the liturgy have sustained me. I have been so very grateful.

Today as I awakened and thought about where I would fellowship, I immediately knew where I was to go. I even knew who I was to sit with. I invited my grandchildren to go but they were with cousins. I had to go alone.

As I drove into the parking lot, I felt at home. I looked for familiar faces inside cars as they drove by. When I got to the greeters, one man recognized me. He looked so surprised and pleased. He grabbed hold of me and gave me a big hug. And so it went in the next fifteen minutes before church, one person after another welcomed me, holding out their hand or wrapping me in their arms. They looked me over like I was a memory of the past. Their warm smiles and gracious words spoke volumes to me.

When I found the prayer warrior I was to sit with, she smiled a big smile as I sat down beside her. I patted her 80+ year-old hand as she held the hearing aid device with her other hand. We smiled at one another.

As the service unfolded, I gazed upon the beautiful Christmas tree bedecked with delicate, elegant angels I had bought with memorial funds all over Indianapolis. I grinned as my eyes paused upon the intricately woven blue needlework rendition of the nativity scene that had been unused for years and I remember hanging it for the first time and how celestial it appeared. Tears welled in my eyes as they fell upon the five ceramic chalices on the altar that I carried in my backpack from the Holy Land. Truly, I was at home, at last.

I love you,
dearest God.
What would
my life
be like
without you?
I have felt
your hand
upon my back
nudging me
along my
life journey.
I have felt
your hand
upon my heart,
holding all
the broken pieces
until one
great mending
began to
take place.
I have felt
your hand
upon my brow
when I
was too weak
to stand.
I have felt
your hand
upon my feet
as you moved
one foot
in front
of the other.
I was
never alone.
And today
we celebrated Advent
together
in the
United Methodist Church.
Glory to you,
Gracious God,
on High.

Love, Andrea