There are many days where I have come home frustrated with the church.  I’ve been frustrated with our inward focus, our selfishness, our lack of care for one another, and any number of other things.  I wonder how something created to bear the image of God could turn out so wrong.

And then there are days where I am so in awe of the beauty of the church, that I can hardly find words.  Somehow this flawed bunch of people, through God’s infinite grace, are able to get it right.  Sometimes, we are actually able to bear the image of God - and when we do it is so powerful and so amazing and so incredibly beautiful.

This week, I’ve had the privilege of sitting in on groups of people doing life together.  Each time, I have been welcomed with great warmth and love.  I have been a part of people sharing some of their deepest pains, their tough questions, their seemingly trivial life circumstances, and their laughter and encouragement.  They have prayed for one another - for real things, painful things.  They have worshipped together, eaten together, and dug into Scripture together.  Tonight, someone in the group prayed for me, even though I hadn’t asked for prayer (but should have).  It was the sweetest and most beautiful prayer that actually spoke exactly to the need I was feeling in my heart.

At its best, the church is the greatest hope I see in the world.  It is the greatest hope of real community.  It is the greatest hope of experiencing abundant life.  It is the greatest hope of learning what our life is about and what our purpose is and who God is in the midst of all of that.  And it is the greatest hope of pointing us to and allowing us to experience the immeasurable love that God has for all of creation.  It is the hope that the world can actually look different.  And that we can participate in that process and shine a light on a new and more hopeful way of living.

I needed to write this tonight... lest I forget.  I needed to remember this hope and this beauty, for the days that I might become cynical and find no purpose for striving for this kind of community. 

It really is possible to re-imagine what it could look like to be the church... and that gives me great hope tonight.  God is always working to make things new...