Every fall without fail, six women from all over the U.S. gather in Valparaiso, Ind., for two days of retreat, refreshment, and renewal. We are the Valpo University Lutheran Deaconess Class of ’71.
In our younger years, we used to gallop right in with updates about children and birth control, moving from there to health, then to vocational opportunities, and finally to the problems of the world. Now, we gingerly limp right in to body parts issues, moving to grandchildren, declining parents, adult children, retirement dreams and then on to the problems of the world.
When we gather, we are part, in God’s own wondrously mysterious way, of gatherings much greater than us. When we gather, the Risen Christ is present, binding us together with the whole body of Christ throughout time and space, sending us back into our daily lives refreshed and renewed for service in Christ’s name.
This message is adapted from “When We Gather” written by Gwen Sayler in the November 2011 issue of Gather magazine.
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