We're Connected

I have severe asthma and have been sick for the last couple of months. I think I've only been able to be at worship services on Sunday twice since Christmas and only been able to make two Wednesday evening services as well. I've been "hibernating" a long time. How frustrating.

Yesterday, a friend from church stopped by to visit with me and during the conversation we talked a little about how "out of the loop" I felt. She made the statement, "You feel disconnected." I agreed.

I love that friend that came by very deeply. As she left and was about to get into her car, I called out to her that I loved her and appreciated what she stood for (as a Christian). Afterwards, I began to reflect on how important the connection we have with one another as Christians is.

We have been priviledged to live in and travel to a number of places and among several different cultures. Because of that, we have friends in the Church, literally all over the world: from Australia to Oregon, in Venezuela to Mexico. We have friends in Puerto Rico and throughout the Caribbean, South Africa and even Canada not to mention in just about every state in which the Church exists. One sister I am very close to, I met in the Virgin Islands during the eight years we spent there working with the Church. She moved to the tiny island we lived on for two years and came to worship with us. We grew very close to one another. She then returned to New York City where she had lived for over 20 years.

Sometime back, she called me just to chat and catch up on life. I apologized to her because I had not called her in months. She said something to me that has hung with me since. She said, "Don't worry about it Dana, we're connected." How right she was. We are connected. But what connects this poor, black, school teacher and single mother living in the heart of New York City with a white, middle class, homemaker in small town Tennesee? The Lord's Church. Do you realize how awesome that is?

The Christians I know and love so very deeply, I would not know or love if it were not for the relationship I have with them through Christ and His Church. Where would I have ever met them? Why would I have ever even been in the same part of the world with them or in the same state for that matter? I often wonder how many people I would know and even scarier, how many friends would I have, if Christ had not established His Church. How thankful I am that He did, and I can know and love my friend in NYC, Australia, South Africa, and the Caribbean as well as my friend who stopped by yesterday. What a gift.

Dana Burk