Meeting again yesterday morning was the "Monday Group" ... Bethany's biweekly gathering of 10 or so individuals who find a lot in common despite owning distinctly different opinions and viewpoints. More and more, participants are opening up to each other—sharing dreams, disappointments, challenges and sorrows. We may have greeted each other months (or years) at Sunday morning worship services. Maybe sent (or received) the occasional birthday or "get well" card. Perhaps even served together on a committee or project. We may have thought we knew each other ... then along came the Monday Group and we discovered ... we really didn't. Not deeply, that is.
But now, by having met together for about a year, it seems natural to talk through what's troubling us, to truly listen to one another .. even to take issue with something somebody said or did that bothers us. These are all "Christ moments"—times we are asked to overlook what separates us and be assured of God's grace as we seek to do His will. Who would have thought that such intimacy and connection could evolve from something as basic as a book-and-Bible-study kind of activity?
Maybe it's not so surprising that this regular little gathering kind of defines what Bethany—now in its 110th year as a church—has come to: be a caring community that is both grounded in the past and yet not afraid to take risks. When we use our collective memories, honoring what we as a congregation have achieved and meant to so many over the decades, we renew ourselves as God's people. And renewal can lead to confidence and the willingness to look at everything through new eyes. Sometimes we might not like what we see. Sometimes we are afraid of what we might see. During these Christ moments, we are asked not just for our loving attention to God, but our patience as well. Like our relationships with one another, there is hidden depth waiting to be discovered.
—Cathy Betts Sapunor
