Sometimes the only words that come to me are directly related to what is going on at CRLC.... and it is, indeed, a very tender time this weekend.

Our Pastor, Bob Springer, who has been here for 34 years will retire this weekend. We will celebrate his ministry and engage in the rite for retirement. Yet in this weekend when we celebrate and give thanks for his ministry at a Friday evening dinner and a Sunday morning worship service, we also will gather to grieve the sudden death of one of our youth members. At the funeral service on Saturday morning we will contemplate the pain and suffering of sudden death, even as we give thanks and praise for the joy of the resurrection.

Yes... a tender time... tender thoughts, tender feelings, tender prayers... and I would guess that many, many of us will be "spent" emotionally, mentally, and physically by mid day on Sunday.

Most of us will not even try to maintain a "stiff upper lip". We don't want to skate through any of these events. We will miss out on a precious blessing of Christian community if we resist the depth and scope of the tension we experience as we taste the bitter sweetness before us. At all of the events we will be together in the emotional and spiritual waves of

profound gratitude
sorrow
acknowledgement of mystery and the unknowable
celebration of the abiding truths we share through faith.

I expect tears, laughter, words, silence, powerful glances, warm embraces.... I also expect to notice the abiding presence of God inviting us into the comfort and shelter of God's Loving heart.

If you are reading this and you are a member of CRLC, peace be with you! If you are not directly related to CLRC, hold us in prayer... for this is, indeed....

a tender time.