Weekend Update

from Bob Henderson       

Friday, August 22, 2014  

Dear friends:

 

In the movie Groundhog Day the character played by Bill Murray lives a single day over and over again. During one incarnation of that day he happens to catch a young boy falling out of a tree. From then on, when that moment in the day comes around again, he feels compelled to leave whatever he is doing to catch the boy once more. With each succeeding day he becomes more and more annoyed at the boy's continual need for his help, and eventually the relentlessness of the need wears his compassion thin. 

It happens even in the best of circumstances. Our lives can be decorated by abundance and yet we find our way to stress and exhaustion. I think of one friend who enjoyed a thriving congregation, a healthy family and a rich match of gift and need for that call. Then one day he sent us a not saying he had resigned, that he could no longer meet the perceived expectations and needed to reformulate his life and occupation.      

"I can no longer meet all the needs of this parish," he wrote,  "any more than I can chase down all the crickets on an August night." Which made me wonder: Who told him that he was supposed to meet all the needs of his parish? I should have introduced him to another friend, a person of considerable power and influence, who hikes in the mountains for a week every year. While he is gone he asks his wife to save all the newspapers delivered during the week. After his return he reads each one just to remind himself that it all happened without him. 

In our scripture passage this week, we see a curious interplay of divine power and human effort. The story is filled with nuance and detail, and I encourage you to read it closely.

In addition, this week we'll enjoy the return of the 9:30 Chapel service in which Joan Watson will preach. In all services we'll focus on our commitment to education with our blessing of backpacks -- a great event --  and give them to A Child's Place, our mission partner that works with several thousand homeless children in our city. Depending upon the service, we'll also hear from Lecia Shockley, Covenant member and CMS Teacher of the Year, Jake Lappi, assistant principal at Highland Renaissance Academy, Stacy Kasberg, head of the Epiphany School now housed at Covenant, and Brett Loftis, executive director of the Crossnore School in Avery County. It promises to be an outstanding day.

Join us, and bring a friend.