Wandering Back and Forth

Musings . . .

“For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 28:20
“We are family; I got all my sisters [and brothers] with me.” Sister Sledge

One of the aspects I enjoy the most about summer is reading, and this summer has been a great one. I have read or listened to a few detective novels (my favorite), one sappy lie-on-the-beach, soak-up-the-sun book, and three non-fiction works. I also decided that this would be a summer of brain reading—the type of reading of which I have to truly pay attention to what I read, digest it, and apply it to my life. Thus, I decided to take on C.S. Lewis. Unfortunately, Lewis has never been a favorite of mine since I have always associated him with fantasy writing such as the Chronicles of Narnia and The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. Notice I wrote unfortunately because this summer I introduced myself to Lewis’ spiritual writing, especially those that argue the existence of God and of Satan. His work Mere Christianity is a compilation of his talks over the BBC radio network during WWII. The other work that has fed me is The Screwtape Letters. I have a confession: I was supposed to have read this text sometime when I was in college, and I have come to realize I cheated in more ways than one. Obviously, I cheated by not fulfilling the requirements of the course, but more so by not reading words of profound spiritual foundation. However, I believe I was not ready for Lewis’ wisdom then as now.

What does this expose on my summer reading have to do with us as the body of Christ? In The Screwtape Letters one of the minions of Satan tells a young trainee that he must beware of the strength of the body of the Church, that it is “heavily defended” (33). On Sunday morning as I sit in the pew and look at all of you, I am overwhelmed by our body of Christ. (This musing was intended for the members of my church, Inverness United Methodist Church, but it also applies to all of us who share in the membership of the boby of Christ.))We are a family that has been through so much together. We have rejoiced and mourned together; we are talented and gifted; we are loving and caring; we are spirited and wise. In essence, we are a family. We may not always agree, but the one constant in our lives together is our love for Christ and his work on this earth. For the last year, we have experienced a revival; we have had an increased attendance at activities and there are new folks worshiping with us on Sundays. Let it be our prayer that we continue to feel the strength in our growing body, that we serve as a beacon in our community, and that we continue to love Christ with a fervor that will make Satan pass us by as he “[roams] through the earth and goes back and forth in it” (Job 1:7).