Pastor Elisabeth’s Greetings
August all too quickly invites us back into busy routines. After long
summer days of renewal, school bells ring again, calendars start filling up, and our church life quickens. Our Gather & Sing choir resumes, ministry teams regroup, and new ministries unfold.
To launch the school year, our annual Blessing of the Backpacks will take place on August 9th with Anna Grant offering Sunday’s message. At the end of the month, August 30th, we’ll gather in the Parish Hall for our Fifth Sunday Fellowship Meal.
In all the busyness of a new season, it’s easy to think that what matters most is what we can get done: accomplish. Yet Scripture gently reminds us that before we are called to do, we are first called to be.
Again and again, the story of faith is the story of God’s presence. God walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, traveled with Israel through the wilderness, dwelled among us in Jesus Christ, and now abides within us through the Holy Spirit. We worship a God who is always present; it is we who come and go. Jesus continually invites us to be present with Him and with one another.
The Quaker tradition speaks of “the inner light of God in everyone.” It is a beautiful reminder that every person bears the image of the Creator and deserves to be met with dignity, compassion, and love. When we truly pause to see one another as beloved children of God, we begin noticing the Inner Light that graces our world.
Perhaps the greatest gift we offer another person is our presence: gifts of a listening ear, a shared meal, a handwritten note, a quiet prayer, a visit to someone who feels forgotten. These ordinary moments often become the places where God’s extraordinary love is revealed.
As we begin our new routines, let’s look for those sacred moments. May we be present to God in worship and present to one another in community. For whenever we honor the image of God in another, we discover that Christ has already been there before us.
Wishing You God’s Grace and Peace, ~Pastor Elisabeth