“Come to church Sunday morning and sing the song of your Creator, greet other worshipers with the peace of Christ, banish all cynicism and hatred from your heart. Respond to the light: absorb it, reflect it, refract it, share it.”

So the other evening I stopped by Target to pick up a few groceries. I go there a lot, probably four or five times a week. Rebekah says I “shop like a European” and I think she may be right. But I’m okay with it because the way I see things I’m simply keeping my food in Target’s big kitchen until I need it, then I just swing by and pick it up.

That and I may be a tad less well organized than I could be in the planning department.

Anyway, I wheeled my cart out to the parking lot to put my groceries in my little European VW Golf TDi, I paused, and I looked out at the dying light to the west.

I don’t know, maybe I’m hopelessly naive, but every time I see a splash of color light up the sky like that – even in a Target parking lot – I feel spiritually refreshed and recharged with more hope.

Tragically Cynical:

But we live in a world that is not only tragically cynical but determined – it would seem – to prove the point. It’s not enough to be disappointed, it’s as if people hope for more disappointment so they can justify their anger to the extent that they actively choose rage over reconciliation.

But Jesus offers this ongoing invitation to forgive, to reconnect, to look for the good in one another, and to love intentionally.

But Jesus offers this ongoing invitation to forgive, to reconnect, to look for the good in one another, and to love intentionally.

I look into the sky on a beautiful summer evening and I turn away wanting to be at peace with my neighbor, motivated to understand where people I disagree with are coming from, and inspired to reach out to those who find themselves at odds with the Jesus way of love.

This lovely slice of summer sky says, gently, “Come to church Sunday morning and sing the song of your Creator, greet other worshipers with the peace of Christ, banish all cynicism and hatred from your heart. Respond to the light the way I do: absorb it, reflect it, refract it, share it.”

Well, that what I imagine the sky is saying – DEREK