The Community

When I was ordained forty-seven years ago, I entered into a new community.  Back then women were not being ordained by our church so this new community of preachers could be thought of as a brotherhood.  As a Methodist pastor I was never a member of a local church, but a member of this larger church which had ordained me and a part of this community of preachers.  As the years passed this new community of the ordained became a valued part of my life and I counted it a privilege to be a part of it. 

 

And now, after all these years I find myself still here while so many who started out with me, or joined with me along the way, are gone.  Recently several of these pastors with whom I have shared ministry have died and each time there is an awareness of a loss and a community being diminished by the passing of years.  With the recent notices, I have been reminded of words written long ago by Issac Watts, "Time, like an ever rolling stream, bears all who breathe away. they fly forgotten, as a dream dies at the opening day."

These words of Issac Watts comprise the fifth verse of that great hymn, "O God, Our Help in Ages Past."  At first glance they may seem a bit pessimistic, but then we realize they are sandwiched between the first verse which sings "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, our shelter from the stormy blast, and our eternal home" and the sixth verse which is almost the same as it sings, "O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home."  As life is fleeting, so is eternity enduring.  To look behind is to see our help and to look ahead is to see our hope.  Thanks be to God!