Pastor's Blog
REV REG'S RANDOM RAMBLINGS (February 28, 2011)
"See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands; . . ."
At the Clergy Retreat I attended last week, we talked about the journey in the wilderness, and sometimes that means we feel very lost. But, the truth of the matter is, we are never really lost.
God has us "tattooed" onto His very hands. It's difficult for us adults to remember that. However, children don't have nearly as big a problem with it. I had time to ponder this last evening as I made my way home from conducting my Uncle Bert's Celebration of Life in Wiggins, MS.
His daughter Linda and I are very close in age, and were big buddies when we were little girls. We were quite good at getting into mischief together. We must have been all of five or six when we decided, while I was visiting Linda, to go tiger hunting in the swamps of Ramsay Springs, Mississippi!
Well, we set off on our hunting expedition armed with lethal sticks. Some time later, muddy, disheveled, my new red tennis shoes ruined, we arrived back at the house to find that we were considered "lost". Aunt Creassie, Linda's mom, vacillated between "switching" us and hugging us. We thought all her anxiety was quite unwarranted. We were not lost. We were with each other. And, somehow, I believe we still had a sense of the warmth of the Father's hands. I wonder if, as we grow older, that remembrance of being held in the palm of God's hands grows to be a very distant memory, until it is very easy for us to feel "lost" on our journey.
May we, as God's children, reclaim the joy of being held in God's hands. And, may we always find a dear companion to accompany us as we go forth, hunting tigers!
Grace and Peace, RevReg
