The Journey / 2016 Winter
29
Relational, Transformative Christianity An Intro to 2 Churches & 2 Pastors who are Raising Awareness in the High Country
After some recent back pains sent me to the doctor, I had been prescribed physical therapy at the Wellness Center and found myself there one afternoon. It was in the lobby that I encountered an old acquaintance of mine; she had been purchasing Dining Cards from me for years and was at the Center with her husband. The couple was in their seventies and he was receiving physical therapy because his body was wracked with pain--fifty plus years of operating a jackhammer for the highway crew will do that to a person. We were exchanging pleasantries when she recalled that I was a pastor, and requested I pray for her husband’s condition. But, before we could start she began to talk politics, national and worldly affairs, and her deep concern for it all. Then she told me that she had to distance herself from a long-time friend because they were having such huge disagreements over political issues. It made me sad to hear
this, not only because they had been friends, but because they attended the same church. For reasons I don’t fully understand, when she told me this it impacted me deeply. I felt as if all of heaven was weeping because two sisters in Christ were now estranged due to differing opinions on current events. At that point I simply asked if we could pray for her husband and reached for her hand. We sat there in the lobby and I prayed, but I didn’t just pray for her husband’s broken body; I prayed for that broken friendship and our broken culture. Not long after that, on a beautiful Fall day when the leaf colors were beginning to change, I was in the parking lot of a popular high country restaurant when I walked past 3 people standing amongst the cars. They were in the midst of an animated conversation, and in an attempt to
