Pastor Dan - November 2019

 The month of November tends to stir my mind to remembering. Many of the memories draw on family gatherings from yester-year. I was recently remembering Thanksgiving meals with the Valasakos clan in San Diego. Early in my life, I do remember gathering at our home, but as the clan grew, we would gather at my Uncle Spiro or Uncle Lou’s home because they had homes designed for entertaining.

 I can still remember gathering at my Uncle Spiro and Aunt Charlene’s home. I must have been five or six years old. This was the first time I came across furniture that had a heavy plastic covering it. To this day, I can walk into a store, or down an isle of a store and catch of whiff of that plastic smell and it brings me back to the orange shag carpeted living room of my uncle and aunt’s home. As I was confronted by these plastic coverings, I was wondering what are you supposed to do with the plastic on the couch? Do you lay down on it? Do you remove it? Why would anyone have plastic on their nice, soft couch? And as I started to climb upon it to lay down, I was immediately shooshed away and banished from the plastic covered living room.

 I’ve been wondering if congregations around the nation and over the years have put a heavy plastic covering over the Christ. The Christ needs to be protected from the grimy paws of curious people who really don’t know just how precious and special Jesus is when you get to know Him. The Church leaves the plastic cover over Jesus and the cover keeps others from touching and finding comfort and rest in the caring arms of the Christ who stands as the only true comfort in a wearying and whirling world. The Church seems to say, “Look” but don’t touch. The Church tends to say things like, “We’re here with Jesus and if you want to get to know Jesus, you have to be a member of this particular denomination, or this particular congregation. Jesus is protected from the outsiders so that the insiders can reap the full benefits of the gift of the Christ.

 As my memories continue to bubble up, particularly in this month, I do recall that as years passed, the plastic covers disappeared and the living room became a place that hold some of my fondest memories. I remember that this space became a place in which the family clan danced traditional Greek dances with traditional Greek music. It became a place of story sharing and some of the most fantastic candy dishes with some of my favorite candies. Candies and kids produce danger for furniture, but the furniture became merely a vehicle to develop family, friends and memories.

 I pray that Christ’s Body, the Church, may always be a faithful vehicle for the development of family, friends and memories. And especially a place for ALL people to be touched by the comforting and gracious hands of our Lord and Savior.

In Christ’s love and service,

Pastor Dan