Thursday, April 10, 2014

A Place of Gathering

Lepaterique, Honduras

A lot happens in the marketplace. It is a place of selling and of buying. It is a place of gathering. Day in and day out people gather to do business in the marketplace, yet it is more than a place of commerce. It is a place for connecting with others.

On this Saturday evening in Lepaterique there were people gathering throughout the community, walking the dusty roads from one shop to another. There were probably more conversations than buying or selling. Connecting with others is an important aspect of life.

So, why do we find it difficult to connect in the church? We enter through the front door, sit in our pew and find our way back to the parking lot with the possibility of never saying hello to another person. Yet our purpose of being in worship is so that God can connect with us, and maybe, just maybe, we might connect with another pilgrim in life.

We look for connections when we enter God's house. We want to connect with God and we want to connect with another person. In one sense, we'd like the church to become a marketplace, not for the selling of goods, but to connect with others.

We'd like the church to be a place where we truly connect with another person who loves us.

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." 1 John 4:11 New International Version

Today's Challenge: Seek to connect with another person. This doesn't have to be a theological conversation. It can be simply asking the person how they're doing then actually listening to their response.

Join the conversation at Praying With the Eyes on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups/173881749421231/

(Click on picture to enlarge.)
  
Text and Photographs ©Copyright 2012-2014 Douglas P. Brauner.  ARR. 

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