Candice's Comments

On opening night of Quadrennial Assembly, the focus scripture was 1 Corinthians 16:7 in which the apostle Paul says to the people in the Corinthian church:

I do not want to see you now just in passing,

for I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.

Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, General Minister and President of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), challenged us to look at our neighbors and really “see” them. She challenged us to see the potential that is around us that perhaps we didn't see at first glance, to spend some time looking rather than just passing quickly by.

Bill and I are blessed with good neighbors. But I don’t spend much time talking with them. I speak, wave, or discuss the weather, but often remarks made are just in passing. I really don’t spend much time getting to know them, to hear what’s happening in their lives and families.

Capitol Hill is part of the Fairmont Park Neighborhood Association. I really never knew our neighbors around the church building until Fairmont Park began holding their monthly meetings at Capitol Hill. Things changed when we began meeting together, working together, spending time together. Rather than passing by one another, we began to see each other in a new way.

When we step outside the doors of our homes and church building, what do we see?

· Do we see our neighbors?

· Do we look at the world with eyes of grace and compassion?

· Do we feel hope and joy?

· Do we see the potential around us in our building and land?

When we really “see” our neighbors, things change. We change. We see one another as persons with ideas, thoughts, dreams, and hopes. We see one another as unique and particular individuals, as special creations of God.

God did not just wave at us and pass though our lives. God sent Jesus to dwell among us, live with us, be a flesh-and-blood presence with us. We are that “presence of God” who dwells with our neighbors.

As we step outside the doors of the church building and our homes, may our eyes be open to see our neighbors with grace!

     I see you!

     Pastor Candice