Thoughts from Our Bridge Pastor
Rev. Barbara K. Peronteau
Thoughts from the Pastor…
I’m thinking about energy. What is it and where does it come from? When I was kid, I thought the trees created the wind. I saw the trees move and so I thought the wind came from the trees. To be sure, it was a working theory. One day I shared my hypothesis (a word I would learn much latter) with my Mom. She set me straight. The wind is what causes the trees to move. Wait! What? This was a head scratcher for my 5-year-old brain. My Prometheus streak persisted.
Well, where does the wind come from? Mom told me the wind comes from the energy created by the Sun. I was beginning to see a connection between the Sun, the wind, the trees, and me. To ask where the Sun gets its energy from was beyond my young comprehension. I was, however, in awe of the Sun and the wind that could move trees.
There was a day, probably sometime around dusk, an ancient, ancient, ancestor of ours (might some of us possibly be related?) had a working theory. No one knows what this early human was thinking or how this feat was actually accomplished, but by the time it was dark on that particular day, and for the first time ever, there was a pretty good fire going.
One day, Benjamin Franklin, could feel a storm brewing. First, he smelled the change in the air. A short time later the wind began to blow. Then, after the dark clouds began to roll in, he could hear the thunder in the distance. Franklin had a working theory. Now was his moment. He grabbed his kite and his house key. Ah ha! Franklin found a way to uncover something that already existed. We call it electricity. It powers our everythings.
Energy is something that can move something else. Interaction between something and something else is created. A rock sitting on the edge of a cliff for millennia suddenly falls to the valley below. Something moved it. Energy is what moves molecules which gets all heated up and then moves faster and faster until there is motion, or a spark, or wind. Maybe our ancient ancestor was on to something.
The thing is, electricity, and energy in general, remain a mystery. This energy thought thread started when I began thinking about our individual Thanksgiving gatherings. Perhaps we were waiting at an airport, or at a gathering, for that certain someone to arrive, with our resting face. You know, that face each of us has that looks like a melting candle without the flame. Then we see a loved one, a family member, or a friend, and our face lights up. We smile, we stand up, we wave our arms. For a split second we think we might look like idiots, but we don’t care because we are all charged up. Think about how much energy that was created by the people who came for your Holiday Feast. The room was lit with energy. Yes?
Being at Church is like that. We each bring our own energy to church. The more the better (following safety guidelines, of course). There is a particular energy we bring to the event we call church. Not only do we bring energy, but the very Spirit of God is there with us when we are there. The sermon can only be preached once because that is the preaching moment when we each bring our own energy. In that time, we call Church, there is a healing moment, a Justice moment, a Love moment, a forgiveness moment, a wow moment, a music stirs my soul moment, an embracing moment, and quite possibly a God moment in what we ALL bring to that moment we call Church.
I can’t explain it. It’s like when the trees are creating the wind. The more trees, the more energy. Each of us brings our own energy to the worship experience. The more of us the more energy there is. In that moment the Spirit we name as Holy is jumping up and down with all sorts of excitement, and with waving arms is creating more excitement and energy. Spirit is happy to see you! In that moment we know as Church we are one in the Spirit, the source of our energy all along. We are one. We are jazzed. I am in awe embraced by mystery.
See you in Church.
Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy,
~ Pr. Barbara