Ripples of Life and The First “Faith Through the Lens” Sermon

Birthday reflections and Focus/Framing

One of the fun things (yes there are some) of social media is when a birthday comes along.  At least on Facebook, one’s timeline is suddenly filled up with well-wishes to celebrate.  It is easy to just scroll through them all and simply just read them and move on or even take a moment and click “like” or “love” on each to let people know that you’ve seen their greeting.  And honestly, that’s pretty much what I’ve done in past years.  But today, I noticed something.  I noticed how the circle has grown larger and larger as I have gotten another year older.

There were people from every place that I have lived and spent extended amounts of time.  There were friends who I have known for as long as I remember (TS, I’m looking at you), ones with whom I went to elementary, junior high, or high school.  College friends showed up (along with several messages of “dude, sorry about the Buffs last night”) as well as those from a brief year living in Arizona.  Seminary colleagues and then friends from the three different congregations I’ve served shared well-wishes.  There were people who I’ve never met in person, but only online who shared their well-wishes too.  In addition to the online posts were calls, texts, cards, and emails from friends and family wishing the same as well as four (yes four) singings of Happy Birthday at the congregation I serve (one solo, one by a small group, one by the choir on their first Sunday back, and one by the whole congregation - y’all are awesome!)

As I scrolled through and clicked “Love” on each one, I thought of this morning on Scout and my walk.  It was a beautiful sunrise once again (something about autumn brings out beautiful sunrise colors) but it wasn’t the sky that touched my spirit but instead the ripples in the water that came from a fish doing a quick jump out of the water.

These ripples feel like what I read on my feed this morning and what I have experienced through the day.  I am so grateful for the circles that have been expanding over the decades - for people with whom I connect most every day, for people who its been a while since we’ve been together, for people who I have known as long as I can remember (once again, I’m looking at you TS), and for those who took a few moments to share their wishes even though it has been decades since we’ve talked.  I am grateful for each of you and the ways that your life has intersected with mine.  My life is far better because of you. Thank you.

Faith Through the Lens

In my post on Thursday, I shared about the new series that we are doing at Christ Church through the end of September.  We will be exploring “Faith Through the Lens. Each Sunday will be a reflection upon the faith lessons from something in photographic practice or technique.  Today was about the foundation of any photograph in my opinion - Focus and Framing drawing upon Hebrews 12:1-2 and Philippians 4:8-9.  Here’s the message:¹

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

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1. A note about the video - our congregation does not yet live-stream our services so this was recorded on Thursday morning. So the message that is shared here is very similar to what is shared on Sunday but there are some Spirit-led variations that happen in the moment on Sunday. The message starts at about 4:00 into the video if you want to just jump ahead.