God’s abundant love and care comes to us in sharing with one another.
The congregation of which I am a member experienced a devastating fire that destroyed the interior of our 110-year-old building. In the days and months that followed, it was hard to focus on anything but what we’d lost – a treasured altar painting, beloved stained-glass windows, white and gold Swedish-style chancel furnishings, archival documents, and so much more.
But the whole community came together to give us what we needed. Other congregations, including the Jewish congregation and the Islamic community, offered us worship space. Our neighboring Roman Catholic congregation offered space for our free neighborhood breakfast. Community fundraisers added to our insurance coverage, making it possible for us to rebuild. Artists have helped us make beauty out of our broken pieces of stained glass. A 3-year-old neighbor painted and sold 70 small paintings, raising $125 to “fix the church.”
Once you start looking, gifts of abundance are visible – often in unexpected people and places.
This message is excerpted from “Turn it around” by Karen G. Bockelman in the January/February 2019 Gather magazine.
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