The Printed Panda
Each week our local paper, the County Down Spectator, publishes a short column from a member of the local clergy. Once a month, Groomsport Presbyterian is asked to take the column. While the paper doesn't publish it online, here is what I wrote for this week's paper.
Visiting parishioners is one of the great joys in my life as a pastor; sharing life together, both the good and the bad, is one of the privileges of Christian community. During my visit I always ask how I can be praying for the person. Not surprisingly, people often ask for prayers for their family and friends, they might also ask for prayers for immediate health issues in their life, but what I hear more than anything are requests to pray for our world. There seems to be a prevailing sense that the state of our world is more precarious now than it has been a long time.
It is true that our world is filled with challenging situations with few easy answers. From the migrant crisis to political turmoil and stalemate, it can often seem that the problems of this world are too big for anyone to fix. How tempting it can be to simply say, “there is nothing I can do.”
What would our world look like, however, if each one of us vowed to do one thing each week to make our world a better place? Maybe not a huge thing, maybe just visiting an elderly neighbor who doesn't get much company. Maybe giving a few hours or a few pounds to a local church or charity. If each one of us made that promise, what could our world be?
In the story of Jesus feeding the 5000, the miracle is made possible by the small act of generosity of a young boy. Five loaves of bread and two fish, when paired with God's abundant love, lead to the unthinkable being accomplished. What could we accomplish today by pairing our modern-day loaves and fish with the abundant love and grace of God?