Wholeness

Hi, all!

Last week I enjoyed a week of vacation in Bend, Oregon, with my family. We returned home Saturday and since Sunday was still a vacation day, Katy and I attended Grace Episcopal Church in Bainbridge Island for Holy Eucharist.

It's rare for me to be able to attend church and receive Communion, because I'm usually the one up front, leading worship, preaching, and celebrating the Eucharist, all of which I love to do. But sometimes it's good for me to be a receiver instead of a giver. It's good for me to sit in the pews, listen, pray, and to go to Communion and receive the bread and wine.

I find these times especially renewing, because I can soak it all up and simply be fed. But last Sunday was even more special for me because Katy was with me. There's something about sitting together in church that just feels right. There's a sense of wholeness for me. I'm in God's place and the most important person in my life is with me.

Katy and I rarely get to sit together, so this was special for us. I realize many people attend church without their spouse, for many different reasons, and I always appreciate the faithfulness of those who attend alone. But there's a wholeness about being together when you can.

When Katy and I took Communion, standing in the circle in the center of the church, I felt her presence next to me and realized what a big part of my life she is. I remembered how God has joined us together and made us one. It was a good feeling, a feeling of wholeness.

I hope you'll have that sense also, that the Eucharist is the place where God makes us whole again.

Bill