Jonah

This morning I attended First Presbyterian Church of Cranbury. I have been visiting many churches in the area, but the Presbyterian Church in Cranbury is actually a very special place. One of my spiritual mentors was an intern there while she was at Princeton Seminary. So to worship in that congregation was incredible. I don't think either of the current pastors were there when my mentor was, but from what I've heard about this church the spirit [and the Spirit] is the same.

The Associate Pastor Rev. Rosanna Anderson preached today about Jonah 3:1-4:5 and Matthew 12:38-42. Her ending was especially meaningful to me. I'm going to paraphrase in my own words:
We are spiritual seekers who are caught between the reality of community and our longing for the ideal. It is our responsibility to build people up in love because we are all on a journey. We need to receive the gift of where we. God provides the belly of the whale and in God's time the dry land.

For me, being able to realize the gift of where I am is sometimes very difficult. I want to look forward to what kind of church I want to be an intern in, what part of the country I want to live in after seminary; or I want to look back and think about how much I miss my college friends and my family. To have goals is a good thing. To know where you came from is a good thing. To have people you love and miss is a blessing. But to recieve the gift of the present... there is nothing like it.

The great theologian Thich Nhat Hanh says, "Every moment is an opportunity to manifest the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit". The gift of the present is an opportunity. This I try to remember and to live.

You can hear Rev. Anderson's sermon later this week at http://www.cranburypres.org/audioarchive.html