Graduations are over. I attended two high school graduations in recent weeks; both nieces, daughters of my brothers-in-law. The first one was from my alma mater, which was a surreal feeling. The second one, in Key West, was tempered by the emptiness of her Dad not being there, having died last August.

Pentecost Sunday is over and, unlike Easter, there is no festive-feeling season following it. The Spirit was felt, and we try to go on keeping that Spirit-fire burning. The church enters a time of learning how to be true disciples. I am hoping that as servants of the risen and ascended Lord we will discover new avenues of reaching the lost souls whom our Savior died for. (You may be noticing that I still struggle with blog-style, not sermon or newsletter-style)!

Today we also observe the anniversary of D-Day, the most massive troop mobilization involving American soldiers. In the aftermath of landing on the Normandy and other beaches, they might have wondered: WHAT NOW? Graduates might be wondering: WHAT NOW?

We share that common thread with all of God’s children of every time and place. Those first disciples, filled with the Holy Spirit, might have still been wondering: WHAT NOW? Where faith leads us; where trust in the abiding presence of our Lord takes us. Maybe the answer to the WHAT NOW? is a venturing off into the “where”. Whenever and wherever we do so, always know without doubt that God loves you unconditionally.

Pastor Art