Page by Page

Once a month, I am blessed to lead a simple worship service with a small group of elders.  They have been worshiping together for many years. While they do have concerns about their community growing small, there is a comfort among these old friends that I very much appreciate. Even simply standing at the door as they come and go is a blessing.  My heart slows and my breathing deepens.   

One among them, I shall call her Mary, grows frail.  She always smiles and says hello,  but other than that, she speaks very little. After she is guided to her seat, she will take a hymnal, place it in her lap, and turn the pages, one by one.  She does not appear to read, but simply and quietly turns the pages.    

   

In the few minutes of silence before the pastoral prayer, I hear these pages turning.  The sound reminds me of gentle waves lapping the shore.  In this continuous movement, I hear eternity.     

   

I am grateful Mary has a congregation that has been with her a long time.  She has the habit of church in bones; they know which way to go.   We follow as best we can.   

     

The grass withers, the flowers fade, the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 40:8.  

    

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