From the Pastor's Pen

Dear Friends,

I was listening to Morning Edition on NPR in the car this morning as I was headed to the church for my Tuesday “Outdoor Office Hours.”  They were remembering and celebrating the life of Dr. José Gabriel López-Plascencia, Dr. Lopez for short.  Dr. Lopez died in June from complications of Covid 19.  He was 99 years old.  His grandchildren had to call in over a video call to be with him in his final hour.  He was unable to speak but he let his grandchildren know he could hear and understand by occasionally kicking a leg.  And when the grandchildren began to sing his favorite song, “Por Un Amor,”  tears rolled down his cheeks.  Dr. Lopez was a physician and provided health care for low-income families in Phoenix for over 60 years.  The remembrances were endearing, but what captured my heart was something the reporter said.  “Just imagine,” he said, “how many lives Dr. Lopez touched over the course of 99 years!”

That’s just it, isn’t it?  We have so many years upon the earth and how many lives will we touch?  These days, I often find myself waiting for that magical day when life is back to normal in the United States.  I sometimes feel like my life is on a temporary hold because there are so many things I can’t do right now.  But this reporter suggested that life is not so much about what we can and can’t do, but about how many lives we touch.  I would add life is about how many lives we touch with the love of God.

In the book of Acts, Peter is summoned upon the death of one of the saints in the church at Joppa.  Her name was Tabitha (Dorcas in the Greek.)  When Peter arrived they escorted him to see the body in the upper room.  He was greeted there by the widows who were crying and showing him the garments Tabitha had made for them.  Clearly she had touched all these women through her sharing of the love of God in word and deed.  Peter sent them out of the room and then prayed to the Lord.  Then he told her to arise and she opened her eyes.  Peter gave her a hand and helped her up and then gave her back to the widows who must have been over joyed because the news spread all over the region!  (Acts 9: 36 – 42)

I know we ask ourselves all the time, “When will this be over??!”  I wonder if that is the wrong question.  Maybe we should be asking, “Who’s life can I touch with the love of God today?”

Peace,

Pr. Sally