One childhood pursuit that I hope never goes away is catching fireflies. That innocent inquisitiveness is so precious and indescribable. Seeing that tiny life form penetrate the darkness. If only it were that easy to catch the spiritual bug. It should be just as thrilling to make a spiritual connection, to feel empathy for and with another human creature, as it is to trap a lightning bug. When we practice religion at the expense of spirituality, we lose something. The joy of discovery doesn’t happen. We know there’s a problem, that something is missing, but we can’t put our finger on it. Followers of Jesus too often look and act just like everyone else. The Christian life takes on the sad character of waiting for heaven. We are ruefully aware that many church members just hope to go to bed at night and hope their Good Lord will call them home. For some, that is truly their reality; they are unable to do more than that. But what about the rest of us?

Living in faith is realized eschatology. By that I mean believing that the blessings of the end times are ours to experience now. There is JOY! There is sharing of “happies” as well as “crappies”. There is life overflowing in mercy. There is unconditional love showered and lavished upon us. There is a winking God assuring us that He has our back, and is ready to help us navigate all pitfalls and landmines.

I pray that you will begin, or start again, to cultivate spiritual friendships. Nurture growth in each other. Catch and release the “spiritual bug”, that it may “infect” others with it’s healing power and grace.

Pastor Art