In her sermon last Sunday, the Rev. Carola von Wrangle shared some delightful stories from her childhood, including one about searching her parents’ house for hidden Christmas presents. One year, as she engaged in her customary search, she found presents for her sisters, but nothing for herself. When she received a beautiful rug for her room on Christmas morning she was delighted and confused. She asked her parents, “Where did you hide it?” They told her that it had been on the floor in the basement, out in plain sight, not hidden at all.
We work so very hard for spiritual gifts. We yearn for God’s blessings. We pray for healing, for strength, and for love. Sometimes I think we are like the teenager in Carola’s story, looking in every conceivable hiding place and many unlikely ones and missing the blessings and gifts that are right in front of us.
I am grateful for the gift of this congregation. I love worshiping with you, growing with you, welcoming strangers and getting to know them, like our new guests in the tent encampment, feeding the hungry together, and both experiencing and offering God’s love…together. St. Dunstan’s Church is the gift laying right out in the open, like that rug in the basement of Carola’s childhood home.
Yours in Christ,
David+