ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHING
November 6, 2021
Tomorrow, we will begin a new worship series entitled: With Mud Between The Toes. The title found its conception in my imagination which is always a strange, if not disturbing place to visit. With all seriousness, I love sitting with a scripture for a while to give my imagination the opportunity to walk around the scene, interact with some of the characters and definitely allow for my senses to be involved. What do I hear, smell and feel? In reading the story from Joshua 4 where we find the Israelites crossing over the river on their way into the Promised Land, I found myself feeling the river bottom underneath my feet. Or even if wearing sandals, I envision them getting stuck in the sludge and walking right out of them. Too often our faithful imaginations are skewed by movies depicting Bible stories where everyone looks as if they showered that morning, their hair remained unmoved by the elements and no one perspired even in the desert. Let’s be honest, it was a messy and gritty world. They were most certainly celebrating on the other side of the river, but the mud between their toes reminds us of how the work of faith is almost always messy and gritty.
For all the good work being done, O God, continue to encourage us even when we are left disheveled and exhausted. Amen.
