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Dear Friends,
Paul McCartney’s latest hit song, “My Ever Present Past”, is a reminder of how we carry all of our experiences with us – good and bad – as we make our way through each day. For me, as an individual, and for us as a congregation, that is always most obvious in September. It is the month where so many memories – first days of school, clear cool Saturday football afternoons, last gasps of summer – all blend together with the current realities to form a new set of joys and challenges. It is now that the program year begins for us as God’s people in Clover Hill. I am excited about the promises of this new year, there is great energy emerging in our Youth Group program, the VBS of the summer planted some wondrous seeds of faith, the financial response to our summer appeal letter was tremendous, the golf outing was great fun, Chris Heitkamp will begin his work as our latest Student Pastor . . . the list goes on and on.
September 9 is the target date for our start-up Sunday as Church School begins: the Youth Group will be selling cookies to raise money for their “adopted child” and we will gather at White Oak Park in Branchburg for our Church Picnic. Please join us for the games, the food, the chance to meet Chris and his family and the opportunity to sit together and reconnect as we tell of the joys and challenges that have come our way this summer.
But C. S. Lewis had it right – as he usually did – when he said that we misunderstand life if we think of it as a train ride from one station, or stage, to another, as if we could leave everything behind. We are all products of our experiences, continuations of who we have been and our past is ever present. In this September of 2007, 30 years and a few months after I began my work here, with and among you, I am so deeply aware of how fortunate I am, and how fortunate I have been, to spend these decades with you. Debi and I have spent much time this summer marveling and reflecting upon the gifts, the notes, and the affection that you showered us with, both in June at the formal celebration of our 30 years, and throughout these years of change and challenge. You – along with the other and earlier places and people of my life – are my Ever Present Past and I cannot imagine any greater honor than being able to speak to you of the love of God. I hope that this will be the year when I find just the right words to convey God’s concern for us so well that we will view worship, mission and education as sacred treasures to be seized and savored rather than mere tasks to be accomplished.
Shalom,
Jack
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