Equanimity, Pt. 2
/by Rev. Eric Folkerth
I am grateful to Ken Kelley for many of his gifts in ministry. But this morning I am especially grateful for a brief comment he made, extemporaneously, before his prayers last Sunday.
As those of you who were present will recall, I had already previously asked us to pray for and remember Dwight Lind, his family, and all of our community.
And Ken did this as well.
But Ken *also* reminded us of a recent great joy: The birth of a brand new baby Blakely Samira Guirguis to our regular visitors Jayda Batchelder and Michael Guirguis.
I think you may know Dr. Lind’s story well, but you might not know Jayda and Michael. They’ve visited with us on Sundays, but they’ve also been very involved in our mission work - both of them helping to serve at Hillcrest House during this past year.
Also, back in February of 2022, it was our honor to welcome their families to KPUMC for a special blessing service of their marriage. They had a “destination wedding” in another city, but they also wanted a “church blessing” of their marriage with both their families present.
It was such a joy and honor to be with them for this.
But, Friends, they are not alone!!
In staff meeting yesterday, it suddenly dawned on us that we currently have three *more* families —members and regular visitors— who are expecting babies.
I asked Ken yesterday, “How long has it been since we had four church-connected families who are expecting, or have, a new baby?”
He said he could not recall.
(I’d love for anybody who does recall to reach out…)
Ken reminded us beautifully in those brief off the cuff remarks of the power of “Church.”
While the death of Dwight Lind is truly an irreplaceable loss in our community, the beauty of Church life is the celebration of both Death *and* New Life.
As you may have heard me say before, this is one of the superpowers of church community.
We celebrate…
Illnesses AND healings.
Deaths AND new lives.
The loss of jobs AND the finding of new ones.
Every week we express these as our “Joys and Concerns.”
It seems to me that our concerns and griefs seem to strike us more deeply and stay with us longer. I know in my own life I very often only briefly acknowledge my joys and quickly move back to ruminating on my fears and concerns.
But one of the beauties of being in church, week after week, is to sit in our pews and hear BOTH the joys and the concerns.
When I am suffering, I can look across the pews and see someone else whose life is going well…and in this moment, their joy gives me hope.
When I am joyful I can look across the pews and see the suffering person…and in this moment be reminded to not boast or be prideful of my temporary good fortune.
Last week I wrote to you about EQUANIMITY.
Friends, this is a beautiful example of this very spiritual gift…
To take all things as they come with a measure of honest appraisal.
To trust that our sufferings will not last, and likely neither will our joys.
In the graveside funeral service, it says “In the midst of life, we are in death.”
The opposite, of course, must also be true: “In the midst of death, we are in life.”
And in all of this mystery, we finally trust in the grace, mercy, and presence of God…who walks with us through the joys and concerns of our personal lives and church family.