Mid-week News 4-10-13

Dear Family of Faith, I’m still feeling overwhelmed by all your acts of kindness in the past week. Even on Sunday there was a birthday cake in Fellowship Hour for me—and it was decorated with purple frosting, too!! Please be patient with me as I try to appropriately thank all who gave gifts and showed me such kindness. Speaking of patience…Today I ran into Publix to pick up a couple of grocery items. I was in a bit of a hurry, so I thought I would go through the Express Lane. I was third in line. As I kept looking for the line to move, I noticed that the holdup was with the first shopper. Apparently the woman at the head of the line, who had already paid for everything was squabbling about the price of something because she had gotten ahold of a store flyer that didn’t start until tomorrow. She was refusing to pay the current price and was having the bagger run to exchange her salad dressing. I decided to push my cart with the few items to another checkout. I was the second in line with the new cashier. After I had put my items on the belt, I realized that the woman in front of me had bought two things from the deli which were not coded and priced. Once again the bagger had to run off to the deli to get the appropriate labels. The guy behind me simply packed up his things and went to another line. I waited….and waited…..and waited…and fumed. Half an hour later I emerged from the store, frazzled—not from running around, but from standing around and waiting. Now, I have been doing the bulk of our family’s grocery shopping for thirty-five years (My father did it, too); but I was ready to throw in the towel an quit. If there were such a malady as checkout-line-rage, I might get tested. And yet, in the whole scheme of things, when you look at life as a whole; none of this matters. The whole incident will be forgotten within days. How is it that we so easily succumb to turning so much of life into a crisis? Even when we’re in a hurry, maybe we need to cut each other more slack so that we have time for the unexpected delays of life. So we’re a few minutes late to a meeting or planned rendezvous—it’s not the end of the world! I know that I need to walk more slowly through life to allow for more peace and less stress. How about you? I received the following email this past week: “We wanted you to know what an important role SHUCC plays in our ability to break through barriers to love others. Between meeting Karen and Linda (Schrader) and being a part of your session on “Homosexuality and the Bible,” our members have been able to “love through their past prejudices” and accept our gay and lesbian friends with an open heart. Marty and her group of tutors are also helping us “break the barrier of poverty” by helping build confidence in our Pay It Forward Farm children, giving them hope of a sustainable and fulfilling future. Thank you and the entire SHUCC congregation for all that you do for our PIFF families.” -- Christine Collins (and Paul). First time visitors continue to flock to our worship services—more than 33 bags were given out in the past three weeks alone! Take time this Sunday to meet someone you don’t know. It can be so rewarding, and it’s just the thing Jesus would do. See you in worship! With affection, Pastor Carlan