FROM THE PASTOR

In the Beginning. . .

This coming Sunday I want to invite you to the Adult Forum where we will begin the study of the Book of Genesis.  The book is a panorama of fascinating stories: about how our world came into existence; the beginnings of human life after the Fall from Eden: Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, the Tower of Babel.  Then in Chapter 12 begins the story of Abraham and Sarah as God begins to gather people through whom God will restore Creation and reconcile all things in God’s graceful love.  The stories of the formation of this family are larger than life.  Here is how Frederich Buechner, in “Peculiar Treasures,” begins to retell the story of Joseph and his brothers: 

“Joseph’s brothers tried to murder him by throwing him into a pit, but if they had ever been brought to trial, they wouldn’t have needed Clarence Darrow to get them an acquittal in any court in the land.  Not only did Joseph have offensive dreams in which he was Mr. Big, and they were all groveling at his feet, but he recounted them in sickening detail at the breakfast table the next morning.  He was also his father’s pet, and they seethed at the sight of the many-colored coat he flaunted while they were running around in T-shirts and dirty jeans.” (p. 71-the book is in our library) 

We meet at 8:45 and we learn a lot from each other as a group, and by seeing scripture through each other’s eyes we gain insight we would never get by ourselves.  See you Sunday as we delve into: “In the beginning….” 

 Stephen Paul Bouman