The mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” I have often pondered about how God can transform a person’s life. In our Small Group Ministry, we have been practicing the discipline of sharing what God has been doing in our lives. For the next seven weeks, I have invited some of our congregation members to take the next step by answering the following question: "What is one thing in the life of a specific person you know (you can keep the person anonymous) or the lives of a local group of people that you wish could be changed by that person or group experiencing the love of God or having faith in God? If possible, please share a scripture verse or faith example that you feel inspired/influenced/challenged by as you think about this possible change." I pray that as we envision how wondrous it is to have God in our lives that we will be emboldened to share God with others because God can be that wonderful in their lives too. [We still have some weeks available, so please let me know if you too would like to share your story in the Messenger.]
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By Charles Ho
A few weeks ago, our family was vacationing in Arizona; it was a family reunion. We had a chance to drive up to Sedona on the Fourth of July and took a jeep tour out of town and into the back country to experience closer what made this area famous.
Why Sedona is considered one of the most beautiful vacation spots lies in its geology – the colorful layers of limestone, mudstone, and sandstone. What made usually grayish limestone red was iron deposits seeping into the rocks and oxidizing over time. The area where Sedona Arizona lies is “Red Rock Country” of about 500 square miles. What is now cliffs, buttes, canyons, and grassy areas were once under water, then sand dunes. Nature used weather/erosion, lava, fractures, and rivers to crave the scenery that we saw.
As the family went up and down on the jeeps like kids on Disneyland rides, and took pictures whenever we were delivered to a scenic spot, the tour guide went on and on about how the land was created over hundreds of millions of years, long before Man or Woman walked this Earth. It was as if he was “preaching to the converted”. In this spot of Creation called Sedona, there was no denying our sense of awe or of aesthetics. Through this shared experience, invisible bonds between far away cousins are strengthened. I am sure even the younger cousins will remember this trip the rest of their lives.
Likely none of the cousins felt as I did. To me, this aesthetic experience was also a religious experience. Nature’s grandeur evokes feelings of a sacred place. Why, in some of the jeep ride’s wild ups and downs, surely prayers were said by others besides me! And like Sunday worship, our two hour ride does not show adequate appreciation of the Creator’s work. In Genesis, Chapter 1, verses 9 and 10 spoke of what we saw – “ 9 And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground ‘land,’ and the gathered waters he called ‘seas.’ And God saw that it was good.”
Genesis spoke of the Creation in six days. Most likely the Almighty wants to spare us the details; Lord knows some of us can’t pay attention no matter how exciting the Service is. Perhaps it only seemed like days because God loves us so.