Dementia Education Series - Rescheduled
Reflections from 35,000 Feet
I am in row 26, seat C. It’s an aisle seat and I cannot see outside the window. I wish that I could. I travel better when I can see where I’m going.
At present, we are somewhere over the North Atlantic. I think.
A week ago, on our connection from London Heathrow to Dublin, I got more than a bit queasy as we took off. Flying typically doesn’t turn my stomach, but this flight certainly did. I’m not entirely sure what triggered the telltale signs of motion sickness. Maybe it was the sleep deprivation. Perhaps it was the fact that I didn’t have anything on my stomach. Who knows? But I know this: I had an aisle seat and didn’t have access to a window. If I could have seen the world down below, my head could have become better acclimated to the movement—the shimmying, the bumping, the rattling—that my body was experiencing.
But as it was, I couldn’t see where we were going. And I didn’t like that feeling one bit.
Life becomes most difficult when we can’t see the path before us. The uncertainty is disorienting. The over-abundance of possibilities, endless. The potential for disaster feels omnipresent.
“If I could just see where I’m going, my head and my heart could get in sync and the journey wouldn’t feel so hard,” we muse.
And yet, sight may be overrated.
An old saying suggests that there is a blessing in having a limited horizon. If we were sailing, we might not be willing to leave port if we could see what lay ahead. We may just be paralyzed by fear if we knew the dangers that were on the other side of the horizon.
Some of us are at our best when we can’t see what lies ahead. Many of our fellow pilgrims thrive when the way forward does not seem clear. I am not one of them.
Faithful monks in Ireland once placed themselves on a journey where they could not see. These zealous Christians would get into a boat and push off toward the open water with no idea where the currents might take them. They proceeded on this journey with the firm belief that God would lead them to where God wanted them. These pilgrims were proud that they were trusting God with their destination, and God most always directed them to distant lands with people who did not know the saving power of Jesus Christ. Without these fearless travelers, much of England and Western Europe would not have known about the Gospel.
So, I for one am thankful for these Irish Christians who trusted God with their journeys, even—and especially when—it would have made me more than a bit queasy.
There’s a lesson to be learned here.
Faith means trusting God with the journey. Faith means not panicking when we cannot see the way. Faith means being grounded in God’s presence when the undulating waves poison our souls with nausea.
I wish that I could see more clearly. I wish that I had a clear view from the window seat on my life’s path. I wish that I could have the assurance that comes from the radiant light that comes when you emerge from a cloud deck.
And yet, this is not always the case. I know that I must trust the fact that God knows the way forward even when I don’t. I know this. It’s just hard, at times, and the unease that I feel has the power to affect my whole being.
So, when the plane began to bank, and my stomach began to churn, I asked for help. I looked behind me to the flight attendants who were braving the gravity-questionable-reality without the security of a seat belt.
“I’m not feeling well,” I told them.
They responded with alacrity (for good reason) and without annoyance (apparently, they knew how this felt). They knelt beside me. They got me medicine from my carry-on bag. They provided me cashews, ginger ale and a hospitality that I was most-assuredly grateful for. It was comforting to know that when the journey became too much, there were those around me who could care for me and help me.
This, I thought in an instant, is what church looks like at its best.
No, the trip itself didn’t miraculously get better. There were no false assurances of what might, or might not, happen next. But the people around me were gracious and kind. They provided nourishment and consolation when the motion got too much. And when I left the plane and told the two flight attendants thank you, they grinned and said, “We’ve all been there.”
Indeed, we have, which is why we are all the better for it when we choose to be present with one another along the way. Our collective experience, perspective, and insight—even when we ourselves cannot see well—are invaluable gifts to those with whom we journey.
God knows where we are going, and it is frightening that we do not know the way ourselves. But we can rejoice and be glad that Christ has promised to always be with us!
And if we’re lucky, he’ll be bringing us a can of ginger ale.
Maundy Thursday Service
Maundy Thursday Service on March 29 at 6:30 PM
Join us for a solemn service of reflection and remembrance as we recall Jesus's last hours before his Passion by observing the Lord's Supper.
What is United Christian Ministry?
Have you wondered how an elderly person on a small fixed income can pay an electric bill that has increased dramatically? Or how an impoverished family can feed several children breakfasts and lunches on days when there is no school? Or what happens when food stamps are cut, with insufficient food for end-of-the-month meals?
Decades ago, three pastors from the downtown Sylva churches came together to discuss a common issue – how to address feeding hungry people who were coming to the churches. Enlisting all of the Jackson County churches for support, UCM was begun. Originally only a food pantry, with a part-time director, with a small office in a rental house, UCM was created.
Still with a part-time director, the board is now considering an additional part-time assistant to help with the work load. The house on Skyland Drive is mortgage-free, has had a pantry addition built, with storage sheds added to hold donated household goods, but is still bursting at the seams!
In addition to food pantry donations, monetary donations are received for the purpose of covering “other critical needs” in Jackson County families. Unmanageable heating and electric bills, emergency prescriptions, fuel for cars to get them to jobs, unemployed adult children moving back home, house fires, etc. – real crises for which Christians can minister with loving support.
First Baptist Church does have a line item in its budget for a monthly UCM donation, as well as a container in the Loving Kindness room by the elevator for donated food. In addition, UCM needs volunteers, daily or weekly, to work with the director: jobs in the pantry, at the reception desk, client-counseling, computer updating, cleaning, promotion detail, etc. To help with this ministry to our county’s families who are in crisis, talk to the director, Kathy Cross, about where you might serve.
After 29 years, UCM still needs the support of all church-people in Jackson County.
Baby Shower for Nicole and Jeremy Bolduc
A baby shower for Nicole and Jeremy Bolduc is being held March 18th from 2-3:30 pm in the MFC. Please come help us celebrate and prepare for the birth of their baby boy, Jackson. They are registered at Walmart.
Gardner-Webb University Concert Choir
The Gardner-Webb University Concert Choir is a mixed, auditioned touring choir composed of students from a variety of musical backgrounds and scholastic fields. They perform sacred and secular music from all historical periods in churches, schools, and at University functions. Each year they tour throughout the Carolinas and the southeast, and have performed in New York, D.C., Europe, the Holy Land, Costa Rica, and last year to Ireland. They have been invited to sing at the NC American Choral Directors Association conference in recent years. Dr. Paul J. Etter is their conductor.
Located in Boiling Springs, 50 miles west of Charlotte, in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina in Boiling Springs. GWU is home to nearly 4,000 students from 40 states and 15 foreign countries, and includes a total of 5 professional schools, 2 academic schools, and 13 academic departments offering over 80 undergraduate and graduate major fields of study. Founded in 1905, Gardner-Webb University, a private, Christian, Baptist-related university, provides outstanding undergraduate and graduate education that is strongly grounded in the liberal arts while offering opportunities to prepare for various professions. Gardner-Webb is committed to the liberal arts as the best preparation students can have for rewarding, meaningful lives, and provides exceptional educational opportunities within a Christian environment. GWU is proud to have been honored by the John Templeton Foundation as a “Character-Building College,” the U.S. President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll since 2008, and 1 of 24 universities nationwide to receive an “A” from American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
Dr. Paul J. Etter is in his seventeenth year as Director of Choral Activities/Coordinator of Worship Leadership and also the Chair of the Department of Music. A GWU Excellence in Teaching award winner, he teaches conducting classes, worship leadership classes, and conducts the GWU Concert Choir, and each spring the Choral Union performs a major choral/orchestral work. Dr. Etter has been actively involved leading church music for nearly thirty-five years, is in demand to lead clinics and festivals in area churches and schools, and serves as the treasurer for the NC chapter of the American Choral Directors Association.
New Adult Bible Study
New Adult Bible Study Begins Wednesday, March 14 at 6:00 PM
No Wednesday Activities on March 7th
There will be no Wednesday night activities or Choir practice on Wednesday, March 7th due to Spring Break. Activities will continue as usual the following week, March 14th.
Nursery Volunteers Needed
Are you interested in being a volunteer in our nursery on Sunday mornings? Please email Meredith at m.keskula@yahoo.com to be added to the schedule for the remainder of the year!