Trembling Together

I love the movie The Land Before Time. It’s the story of dinosaurs brought together by an earthquake as they search for their families and a new home. I have not experienced an earthquake. Oh sure there have been reports that a quake happened and that people felt it; I wasn’t one. I have experienced earth-shattering news. Have you? The birth of a child or grandchild, a diagnosis, something that shook you to the core?

This seems to draw people to, or back to, a worshipping community. When this happens, some welcome the seekers with open arms, but there are those who are resentful because they feel that they have been there through thick and thin times. Sometimes, it’s hard to get excited about another person who seems to be testing the waters when it feels like you have been treading water forever.

Families are made up of all sorts of people, different dinosaurs, if you will. Churches are, too. The water in our baptism unites us if we have felt the earth move under our feet, had our lives turned upside down, or are waiting for the big one. Let’s keep moving with those who are different than us. They look different, have different ideas, ask different questions, and because of their differences, are just like us.

Help us, God, to watch for seekers as the earth continues to shake. Amen. — SNN