This month's blog post is by Carol
A
few weeks ago, I succumbed to “The Cold” that had been going around.
Sunday Night is the time of our weekly community gathering, but that week found
me bolted into my room, lest I share the nastiness all ‘round. As I
gathered a novel and ensured that water and a tissue box were nearby, I glanced
outside. There in the golden dusk, two familiar cars had already pulled up in
front of our home, and friendly voices drifted toward me. Gentle laughs,
and the murmur of comfortable conversation.
I
felt a sense of warm inclusion. I had been in this place before.
The previous year, same scenario (another story for another time). I knew what
to expect, and I was not disappointed.
Snuggling
under covers to rest, the group downstairs feasted on delicious potluck fare
(we have amazing cooks in our group!) Soon, sweet strains of guitar and
voice, first one, then many, filled the room under mine: it was a song
long-loved and locally written years ago. (By Josh Young, in case you know
him.) The voices were unified and lovely. I didn’t sing, I listened and felt
wrapped in the beauty and the worship. Another song, and then a new feature in
the sonic undulation of the evening: childish prattle mixed with the clatter of
many little feet on the stairs. The children and their guide were running
upstairs to “Narnia,” our 3rd floor playroom filled with donated toys of all
sorts, but most importantly, large enough to run in. The next sound, of
course, was of a mini herd of elephants just above my room. (We have all boys,
but for one spunky girl.)
Then
after a while the herd spilled back downstairs, the conversational rumble
swirled around finished thoughts and parting blessings given. I released
myself from confinement, to find a friend had left me a week’s portion of my
favorite cabbage dish (especially thoughtful as my food choices are limited:
that other story for that other time…).
Need
I say it? I hadn’t been absent, or missed out on the evening. I had
missed the dear faces, and the specifics of the conversation and study. But I
had been wrapped in their presence, and in the love of Christ, who is present
“whenever two or three gather in my name.” (Matthew 18:20)
