Here's a Lenten Devvotion I wrote for National City Christian Church's Lenten Devotional booklet years ago. Re-reading it now brings back a flood of memories of living in DC. I miss it so...
Sunday,
Feb. 27, 2004
Led
by the Spirit to form community
Rev.
Arlene Franks
And
he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19
The
80 bus is noisy and crowded as it makes its way from northeast DC to downtown. But
every time I ride the bus to work, I am blessed with glimpses of community.
A
large, boisterous, group of school children on their way to a field trip fill
the entire bus aisle, chattering, giggling and wondering about what lies ahead.
A woman abruptly stops her conversation with a friend to help a man in a
wheelchair maneuver onto the bus.
A young woman who is developmentally delayed
shows a stranger the doll her parents gave her for Christmas and the older
woman looks up from her book to admire the gift and talk with the young woman.
We
are called to step out of our ordinary lives and routine existence to form
community wherever we are. It’s what Jesus asked of his disciples. They were going
about their daily business when Jesus asked them to lay down their nets and
follow him so they could form community.
It’s
what Jesus asks of us, and something I witness every day in the lives of
ordinary people. It’s not hard to form community; it just takes doing.
Prayer:
God of love, God of compassion, draw us out of the ordinariness of our lives to
a place of extraordinary communion with our neighbors—both strange and
familiar—so that we might draw closer to you. Amen.
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