“To Long For Connection”

         Last week’s lectionary reading was the story of Mary going to her cousin Elizabeth after having received word that she is to be the mother of the Son of God. It’s a beautiful story of joy, of women finding each other to rejoice because they believed what God can do, to rejoice that God would favor and delight in them, and to rejoice that these experiences can actually be shared.

         I cannot imagine my life without the connections with those who love me. I cannot even think I would have survived the despair, the brokenness, the sorrow without others around me pulling me from the ledge. I can honestly admit that these deep connections have saved my life more than once.

         Perhaps in this age and time in our lives when the Surgeon General has actually designated loneliness as an epidemic in our nation, in the time when we are so alienated and disenfranchised and estranged from others, we can take a moment and honor the connections we have, the relationships still vital, the gift of compassion we have received. Perhaps this is the season when our hearts leap for joy at the ways and with those with whom we are connected.

         Instagram Poet, Hannah Ro writes,

I still haven’t figured out how to keep

my shower floor clean or make morning

smoothies or respond to stress calmly.

same, same, same my friends tell me,

a love note of sorts. Maybe the world

doesn’t need us to cut down on carbs or

make more money or waste less time.

Maybe instead it needs us to reach those

who feel alone in their messy homes or

difficult relationships or unresolved

issues. To impress less and connect

more. To share one single message:

Same. Same, same, same.

In this season when God’s love becomes real and tangible and waits to move in and through us, a season when God joins God’s creation in an unimaginable way of love, we can take the time to reach out to someone; and as they share their joy and their pain, hold them tightly and whisper, “same.”

You are the light of the world!

Warmly,

Lynne

The Service of Lament is now monthly. First Thursday of the month, next service is January 4, 2024

Service of Lament, First Thursday of the month at Noon

First Presbyterian Church Chapel (Park on North side of Church)

215 Locust Street NE

Albuquerque, NM 87102