I was helping a friend edit a short press release tonight for the upcoming benefit rummage sale we are holding for the Palmer’s and Canipe’s. At best the experience was bittersweet; the sweetness comes from having a chance to help our friends in a small way, the bitter aspect is that a sale like this has to happen at all. In three weeks we will have this community wide sale and we are hoping to raise more than we did last year. My garage is already jammed full of stuff that is beginning to roll in from friends who know about the families we are going to help. This year the sale will be expanded by the efforts of a friend of Char’s who will be coming to do cancer prevention education, preparing health food for sale and selling anti-cancer natural supplements and homeopathics. All the proceeds from the donated food and supplements will be given to the effort. This type of reminiscing really has helped me rethink a lot of things. It makes me wonder even more deeply about church, what it looks like, what it is supposed to be doing; I’ve been thinking about community, how it rarely exists even when it is desperately desired and sought after, and finally, I’ve been thinking about friends and what a rare commodity true friendship is these days.
I have a lot more I want to write about church this week. I am very concerned about form over function, which seems to be happening more often than not.
