Want to hear something weird?

The next “Weekly Devotion” you get from me will originate from a new location.

Yep, I’m moving to a new church.

This Sunday is my last one here.

*sigh*

Here’s what happens to me every time I have to say goodbye:

I lapse into an unsettled, melancholy awareness of time’s slow destruction of the present.

Let me translate that for you:  I fear change.

I fear change because you can’t go back.

Because it seems so final.

The idea of somehow dis-connecting and moving on seems really painful.

And as excited as I am about the future, I’ve been feeling some of that “melancholy” this week.

. . .

But then yesterday, this happened:

Somebody had the idea that, at my farewell reception next Sunday, we should have a reunion of sorts.

A reunion of the founding members of our contemporary worship service, from back in the 90’s.

The 5 of us have not been all together in the same room for about 15 years.

Those were great days back then.

We were creative and passionate and generated a lot of energy for the church.

And while I’ve stayed in touch with them all (heck I’m married to one of them), we’ve never tried to all reconnect musically.

That is, until yesterday, when we got together to practice.

We’d picked out some of our favorite old songs, and set up on the stage to practice.

We kicked off the first song.

Instinctively, we reverted to our old parts.

And there they were:  The same tight harmonies and chord changes.

It was nearly flawless.

We all just stared at each other, grinning.

It was as if the intervening 15 years had never happened!

. . .

No, that wasn’t it.

The passage of time was clearly present.

There were more lines on our faces.

We’d all been through big life changes since we’d last been together,

but we shared something yesterday that I hope to never forget:

Things are always changing,

but the Love of God,

and the connection of true friends,

and the harmony between kindred spirits,

is TIMELESS.

 

Thank you, First Church Lawrence, for your love and support!

 

Mitch