The Blue Church

The Book of Acts contains a gallery of portraits of Christians responding to government. Early on we see attempts to oppress the Gospel, and the Apostles resisting commands to be silent.

We are made in God’s image, which means we are created rational beings. But The Fall made us lazy thinkers, and we love short cuts. So instead of patiently gathering relevant data and connecting the dots, we may tend just to accept what we find by clicking a link.

It starts with a disappointment, a betrayal, the loss of a job, or isolation. At first it is a low grade sadness that envelops us and builds day by day. It continues until we are prisoners of our own thoughts.

The problem with holidays is that, while they are occasions of celebration and joy, they can mask or gloss over our sadness. For many, that’s enough, just a little relief. But some hurts go deeper.

One of the more common themes in Scripture is testing. Job was tested in losing everything, Abraham in the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:1), Israel at Sinai (Exodus 20:20) and Marah (Exodus 15:25), and King Hezekiah in his treasury (2 Chronicles 32:31).

In yesterday’s entry, “When Church Reopens,” we considered that the church is people, not a building. The church in Jerusalem began outside a building, and for the first three or four centuries, believers met in homes or in the open air, not dedicated, official church buildings.

Ever since George Bolton Lownes of Springfield built a Quaker style meeting house in 1832, it’s been both landmark and beacon. It’s a landmark because it is the oldest structure on a long stretch of Baltimore Pike, the southbound thoroughfare out of Philadelphia.

Just as there is no “average family,” there are no average singles. Each situation is unique, since men and women find themselves single, or choose to be single, for a variety of reasons. Many love their lives, and would not want things any different. Others long to belong.

Usually, quarantine means staying at home. Turns out it also means working, banking, shopping, and cooking at home. Most already had experienced the first three, but some are hung up on that last one.