My Father’s House

When someone says “I’m going to church,” most of us immediately envision a building. We say church and mean a permanent structure, with permanent windows and a permanent address. We go to church to visit God in God’s house, then too often, we leave God there when we go home.

Last winter was cold where I live, much colder than usual. One morning I saw a woman with a paper bag crouch next to a homeless man and pull out a pair of new, expensive ski gloves and a scarf. When she handed them over, she asked him if he needed anything else. Is God not there on the street corner in the biting cold? And was God also there when a young man got out of his seat and helped a woman he did not know carry her stroller down the steep street car steps even though it wasn’t his stop?

It’s easy to forget that God didn’t always have a house, but it’s something to think about next Sunday as we put on our coats after church. Don’t leave God in that building. Take God with us and let God live in our hearts.

Present Lord, help us to remember to take you with us everywhere we go. Amen. — CB