Those Holy Moments

Aren't holy moments wonderful?  They often happen when you least expect them.  You go through a day or a week, not really expecting anything out of the ordinary and all of the sudden, God's presence is unmistakable.

I spent this past week at a West Ohio conference clergy leader retreat at Mohican State Park.  We clergy are strange people (I didn't need to tell you this!)  We have egos.  Some of us are high church.  Some of us are low church.  Some of us talk really loud even during casual conversation while others of us rarely say a word when in a small group.  We are all over the board theologically.  You would think that with all of these differences, we would not enjoy each other's company!

And yet, whenever we gather, the presence of Christ surrounds our time together in amazing and beautiful ways.  People who usually wouldn't be friends because of so many differences become brothers and sisters in Christ and a loving community is formed.

This sense of family among pastoral colleagues always catches me by surprise and it did again this past week at Mohican State Park.  Each of our eight districts was responsible for providing worship and devotional times during the week which were held in our conference meeting room.  On the final evening, the Capitol Area North District chose to have the worship service outside overlooking the peaceful lake as a campfire was crackling and the sun was setting off in the distance.

One of the pastors shared a very moving and personal story of faith.  Together, we sang a beautiful chorus about the presence of the Holy Spirit.  There was laughter.  There was friendship.  We were experiencing another one of those holy moments.

Sadly, I often hear of people who cease to be friends because of differing opinions on controversial topics.  Unfortunately, this is becoming the norm in our ever polarizing culture. 

Only God can bring such a strange group of people together and form them into a family who have a common purpose and mission in sharing the love of Jesus Christ to a broken and hurting world.