Full Circle

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 – You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. (NRSV)

At a recent worship service, the congregation witnessed the baptism of a young child, with his parents and grandparents. The mother of the child had grown up through the ranks of the Christian education programme within the church. Now with her husband and parents, she was ready to present her child for baptism. I'm sure that others have seen similar events in other congregations. Perhaps it was because I had witnessed the mother as a child and young person growing up in the church that I was really overcome with the emotion of this being part of God's plan — an example of life coming full circle.

At that same service, one of the young people was speaking about her recent nursing internship with missionary Pauline Brown in Jobat, India. Again, this was a young woman who had grown up through the ranks of our Christian education program, and she is finding creative ways to apply her Christian faith to her chosen career.

I couldn't help but think of how God set down the commandments for the Israelites so that they would remember their history, and how God set a plan for them that would remind them how God continued to be active in their lives. It was through the telling of the story to their children and to their children's children that this message would be carried on. What we experienced at this worship service was the culmination of a church telling the story and the young people adopting the collective story as their own story — and the story continues throughout all generations. This is the challenge for all of us in the church. How do we find ways to pass on our faith story to our children and our children's children?

Prayer: Loving and gracious God, we thank You for always being with us and guiding us in our lives. Help us to tell the story of faith to our children and our children's children so that they will grow up knowing that You are by their side and that they can pass on the story to their children and their children's children in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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