Last weekend I missed a family reunion. Bummer!
I have 8 other cousins on my mother’s side…we are the “second generation” (actually 3rd generation Californians, all) and we decided, at my father’s funeral, that we needed to get together once a year for reasons other than weddings and funerals. When we started out (last weekend was #9 of the 9 Moons celebrations), it was a good idea, but not everyone had the same commitment. So not everyone came to the event. But here’s the thing…slowly, but surely, it has become a “must attend” event for all of us, and now the “third generation” is beginning to attend in some degree of regularity as well.
I missed them last weekend, due to a schedule that just wouldn’t bend. At the time I added the other events, I thought I could “squeeze it in” but, alas, when it came right down to it, the distance was too far and the time was too short. Besides the fellowship, I missed an underground tour of a gold mine, and a walkabout in downtown Sutter Creek (Amador County), California. I also missed home-made ravioli, and a lot of other good food.
Sometimes I think that we as worship leaders forget the human connections in our congregational gatherings…and that includes worship. I get uptight when the announcements run long and the service is delayed (we do a pre-service crawl on the screen, but some announcements still have to be “announced”…at least it is before the service begins), but God’s people are, at bottom, people…with all of their human nature. When we get so tied up worrying about whether worship “went right” we forget that the horizontal relationships between people can help sustain the vertical relationship with God. It is through the family of God that we are reminded of what we have in common.
Speaking of which…I think I’ll suggest that we sing “We are God’s people” this week…great hymn…
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