I went to church last night - Tuesday. And every once in awhile you get a sense of what church should really be like, a glimpse of how God intended our gatherings to be. Last night was one of those times for me.
Walter Lamoureux died this past week at the age of 87. He was a longtime member (over 50 years) of St Bernards parish. To say he was well loved and respected would be an understatement. The proof of this statement was brought to life with a packed church.
A cathedral full of people is a pretty cool thing. There were no empty seats, the way God intended a church to be filled. Then people sang out. Not a common thing to hear in a Catholic church, but they did. The words to the songs echoed off the renovated high arched ceiling and flooded back down again over the congregation. It was truly beautiful and powerful.
After the service which was well done, filled with a great Gospel message and sweet rememberance stories, people didn't leave. They stayed to encourage the family and each other. I saw a community of people caring, loving, and providing support to each other- just as powerful as any hymn - it was love in action.
We all know church isn't a building, it's God's people. Last night I went to church, I was with God's people and they were in rare form. God's church last night lived up to their billing, stepped up to the plate and encouraged and consoled Walt's family and each other just as God planned for His church to do.
Do you remember the TV show 'The A Team' and how the leader would say in almost every show, 'I love it when a plan comes together.' Walking back to the car on a perfect cool Fall evening I couldn't help but think how maybe God loves it when His plan, His church comes together as they did last night. Sometimes God's people get it right, and that is a blessing to see and be a part of.
I want to encourage you to be part of it as well, to be a faithful encouragement for others by your attendance at church, by using your voice to praise God, and by taking time to love others you meet there. That's what God's church, God's people, are intended to do. That is God's plan. And I have to tell you, I love it when HIS plan comes together.
Blest Regards,
Keith
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Bearing Vegetables
This past weekend ended the flower and garden season at our house. I took out all the pumpkin and watermelon vines with the exception of a couple watermelon which are making a final effort to get up to size in our cool fall weather.
So far the harvest has netted three watermelons and thirteen pumpkins. Not bad considering I planted them just to fill in some empty space out in the front flowerbed. They ended up going crazy, climbing over the retaining wall and taking over a portion of our yard and half the steps leading to our front door. At first I tried to point the vines back into the garden but they were persistant in their escape attempts and ended up winning that war.
We all enjoyed watching our crop grow. Pulling into the driveway we were greeted each time by a couple good sized watermelons that I was sure would one day mysteriously disappear- but they never did and instead ended up being fine additions to our Sunday evening family dinners. Some days it seemed as if you could see them growing they grew so fast.
The pumpkins grew fast as well and they came in all shapes and sizes. We had long tall pumpkins and perfectly round pumpkins. Some turned orange early, way back in mid September, and some are still a bit green. Our last and biggest pumpkin (about the size of a basketball) is on the steps trying to ripen even as you read this.
In addition we had some radishes, jalepenos and tomatoes. The petunias and marigolds bloomed brightly all summer and fall as did a couple hanging plants I don't know the names of. All in all it was a very successful growing season at our house unless you wonder about my lawn - that is another story itself.
Bearing vegetables, that's what we all need to be doing. I think bearing fruit gets far to much credit. Trees bear fruit. The hard work of bearing vegetables is done at or below ground level. It's a ground war of sorts against bugs and rabbits and birds. We lost some tomatoes, even a pumpkin to bugs. But our plants pressed on and we harvested a great crop.
Of course I'm going to encourage you to bear vegetables of a different sort. To keep working to climb out of the retaining walls of your life and bloom and well, bear vegetables that, with the help of our Gardner, the Holy Spirit, bring Life to others. Bearing vegetables, I like the sound of that. Next time you hear some child being told to eat their vegetables think of your role in sharing God's Good News. See you vegetable producers Sunday in church.
Blest Regards,
kp
OK, maybe you've read this far and have been screaming all along that pumpkins and watermelons are fruits - and that would be correct except this fact ruins my blog so let's just pretend that via a proclaimation I order they are now vegetables as I think they rightly should be. The story now once again makes sense except to those of you who are fruit radicals and will not accept any recatagorization that reduces fruit numbers. Fruity people can be that way. I still call on everyone to bear vegetables! : ) kp
So far the harvest has netted three watermelons and thirteen pumpkins. Not bad considering I planted them just to fill in some empty space out in the front flowerbed. They ended up going crazy, climbing over the retaining wall and taking over a portion of our yard and half the steps leading to our front door. At first I tried to point the vines back into the garden but they were persistant in their escape attempts and ended up winning that war.
We all enjoyed watching our crop grow. Pulling into the driveway we were greeted each time by a couple good sized watermelons that I was sure would one day mysteriously disappear- but they never did and instead ended up being fine additions to our Sunday evening family dinners. Some days it seemed as if you could see them growing they grew so fast.
The pumpkins grew fast as well and they came in all shapes and sizes. We had long tall pumpkins and perfectly round pumpkins. Some turned orange early, way back in mid September, and some are still a bit green. Our last and biggest pumpkin (about the size of a basketball) is on the steps trying to ripen even as you read this.
In addition we had some radishes, jalepenos and tomatoes. The petunias and marigolds bloomed brightly all summer and fall as did a couple hanging plants I don't know the names of. All in all it was a very successful growing season at our house unless you wonder about my lawn - that is another story itself.
Bearing vegetables, that's what we all need to be doing. I think bearing fruit gets far to much credit. Trees bear fruit. The hard work of bearing vegetables is done at or below ground level. It's a ground war of sorts against bugs and rabbits and birds. We lost some tomatoes, even a pumpkin to bugs. But our plants pressed on and we harvested a great crop.
Of course I'm going to encourage you to bear vegetables of a different sort. To keep working to climb out of the retaining walls of your life and bloom and well, bear vegetables that, with the help of our Gardner, the Holy Spirit, bring Life to others. Bearing vegetables, I like the sound of that. Next time you hear some child being told to eat their vegetables think of your role in sharing God's Good News. See you vegetable producers Sunday in church.
Blest Regards,
kp
OK, maybe you've read this far and have been screaming all along that pumpkins and watermelons are fruits - and that would be correct except this fact ruins my blog so let's just pretend that via a proclaimation I order they are now vegetables as I think they rightly should be. The story now once again makes sense except to those of you who are fruit radicals and will not accept any recatagorization that reduces fruit numbers. Fruity people can be that way. I still call on everyone to bear vegetables! : ) kp
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