MONDAY MUSINGS

September 1, 2008

Friendship

Make new friends, but keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold.

This old camp song seems especially fitting as I conclude by ministry here at St. John’s United Church of Christ.  I have met some wonderful people in the 30 months I have been privileged to serve here.  I only knew about ten of you before I settled in as your Interim Minister.  The rest of you were pictures in the church pictorial directories, or just names in the church files.  It took a bit of time to put names and faces together, and more time to put life stories to those names and faces.  This is a gifted and talented congregation of saints-in-the-making. 

With the passage of time, new friends become old friends.  The awkwardness of initial introductions gives way to the familiarity of common events shared and remembered conversations.  There is soon a feeling of comfort and acceptance that results in a genuineness and honesty that makes being together a time of ease and joy.  This enriches the friendship that humanizes our contacts with each other.

I leave with a new cadre of people who have enhanced my life.  I am grateful to the good people of the church and the benevolent hand of God for the blessings I have received.  Together we practiced Christian fellowship.  Together we risked love and forgiveness and hope.  Together we sought to grow more fully into the stature of Jesus Christ, the head of the church.

I look forward to making new friends, for every day of our living is rich with that possibility.  I cherish the chance to keep the old friends, those who have helped shape me into the person I am becoming.  May God bless you richly as you anticipate the coming of your next minister.  God has still more blessings to share with you.  Peace.  John Krueger