One word describes the emotional pace of this past weekend....roller coaster ride!
So if the CRLC community is awakening on this morning feeling a bit numb...or fatigued...there is good reason, right?
I'm not into roller coaster riding...but since I spend alot of time sailing on Sandusky Bay just off the shore of Cedar Point amusement park I witness many, many rides....the gradual approach...camel backs, double dips, inverted loops...plummets, screams... the coasting and braking as the of cart returns to home.
Yep...it was an emotional roller coaster ride!
The first: Friday -- months of planning... gifts chosen and presented. Menus prepared. Memorabilia gathered. Words spoken -- some with contemplation and forethought, others just bubbling out. Laughter and tears...warm glances and embraces. Over 200 people gathered in one place to celebrate the ministry of our pastor of three decades.
The second: Saturday -- only days of planning ... gifts chosen and presented. Menus prepared. Memorabilia gathered. Words spoken -- some with contemplation and forethough, others just bubbling out. Tears and laughter...warm glances and embraces. Over 500 people gathered in place after place to mourn the death of a young man...a death that was so sad...so sudden.
Sunday -- months of planning.... gifts chosen and present. Menus prepared. Memorabilia gathered. Words spoken -- some with contemplation and forethought, others just bubbling out. Laughter and tears...warm glances and embraces. Over 300 people gathered in one place to celebrate and give thanks and to prayerfully transition to Pastor Bob's retirement.
Thankfully, our faith provides a deepseated core that sustains and guides us through tumultuous events of extreme joy or sorrow. I noticed throughout the weekend so many inbreakings of God's love and grace. Meandering through the many intense moments there was a profound, noticeable presence of peace. So many sacred spaces...so many places to linger for rest and comfort, even when emotions were reaching the extremes of highs and lows.... Kyrie...Gloria!
Several people commented: Thank God for the liturgy...the communal response to the sacred as it breaks into our daily existence. Praise the Lord...that we can have access to the eternal as we laugh and weep in response to what we encounter in the here and now.
Aaaahhhhhhmmmmmeeeeeennnnnnn!!!!!!!!
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