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First Congregational United Church of Christ - Grand Junction, CO
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Senior Minister's Annual Report for May 2010 Some of you may remember a story I shared in a sermon last year, about a Cherokee elder who was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, “A fight is going on inside me all the time. It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One of the wolves is Evil – made up of fear, anger, envy, greed, arrogance, guilt, despair, false pride, superiority, and ego. One of the wolves is Good – made up of joy, peace, hope, love, sharing, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. And this same fight is going on inside each of you, and inside every other person too.” His grand-children thought about it for a few minutes, and then one child asked, “But Grandfather, which wolf will win?” And his grandfather simply replied, “The one you feed.” This story is just as true for us as it was for those people who first told the story, and those who first heard it. It is true for us as individuals, and as members and friends of our church. In these days of change, when fewer people are attending church, when church is simply one (usually at the very bottom, if it’s there at all) priority (or option) on a very long list of options, it would be easy for us to feed the wolf of despair, the wolf of anger. Why on earth don’t more people attend church these days? What’s going on with those families who no longer bring their children? What is happening to real faith, in this country of ours? On the other hand, we can choose to feed the wolf of hope, of kindness, of generosity, of compassion. And I think in our church, we’re doing a pretty good job of that. We feed the wolf of Good – of promise – of faith – every time we bring in empty pill-bottles for Haiti, or volunteer to fix breakfast for the Room at the Inn program, or donate money to OCWM, One Great Hour of Sharing, Neighbors in Need, or any of our other special offerings, or bring in food for the food-cart that goes to help supply the Community Food Bank, or bring in toiletries for the Migrant Health Kits, or assemble an emergency Hygiene Kit, or contribute an evening to serve at Homeward Bound, or at Respite Night, or volunteer to drive some of our kids to camp, or pay our pledge to support both our church and our community … and the list goes on. I am greatly heartened by some of the changes I see and feel around here – faithful worship attendance by so many, sharing of musical gifts by so many, volunteering to help and serve in a hundred different ways by so many, generously giving of selves and of gifts by so many, greater friendliness and deliberate outreach to our many visitors by so many, a deepened passion to grow in faith by so many… and the list goes on. Times are tough, it’s true. It’s easy to be discouraged, and resort to feeding that wolf of helplessness and hopelessness. But the God we serve – the God who gathers us together in this place – is not a God of despair, but of hope. Our God is the One who, in Christ, promises to make us into new creations. So let us commit together to keep feeding our wolves of Good – of joy, peace, hope, love, sharing, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. Let us continue to build and to nourish Christ’s beloved community in this time and place together. Blessings,
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