March 18, 2022

Pastor’s Ponderings

Read Matthew 28:16-20

Recently I was thinking about how this COVID-19 pandemic has affected all of us, especially our school aged children – masks in classrooms, in-person learning or virtual, so many issues! I then found myself thinking back to my first day of school. It was early in the 1960’s; my family was living over on the east-side (near Shoemaker and Montclair). The school was only a block or two from our house and on bright, sunny fall day, my Dad walked me to my first day of Kindergarten.

I can still recall him walking with me, holding my hand until we arrived at the door to the classroom. As we got to the door, he stopped, gave my hand one final squeeze and then let go. As he did that, he told me to “be good” and that he would see me after school. Somewhat reluctantly, I walked into that classroom, got through the day and sure enough, my Dad was waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of the school building when the day was over! The next day was a repeat of the first day, but I found my fear and reluctance lessened until it was gone and I would run to school (probably to see my friends more than to engage in the learning experience, but that is another tale!!).

What’s the point to this? In this faith journey that we call “life,” we continue to walk and encounter events and situations that challenge us, scare us, or intimidate us. But just as my Dad’s comforting presence and reassurance helped me as I started school, our Father in Heaven offers His comfort and presence as we face life. As we live out our witness and as we serve Him in this world, remember what we find at the conclusion of Matthew’s Gospel – Jesus is preparing to ascend into Heaven, but he tells His disciples (including you and me) that we will be His witnesses throughout the whole Earth and that He “will be with us always, to the end of the age.” This passage calls us to be His witnesses and to find that comforting presence in all that we undertake for the furthering of His Kingdom.

My prayer for Grosse Pointe United Methodist Church is that each of us will experience our Father’s comforting presence as we continue to share Christ throughout the world.

Pastor Ray