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Life in Greencastle - Mass Humanity and Divine Love

In the last two weeks, I've had the opportunity to spend a large chunk of time at the new Indianapolis Airport and at Holiday World. Not surprisingly, both places were full of people. Hordes of people. And, in both places, I could not help but think, "Wow, the world is just full of people."

Because of the advancement of technology, we are ever more aware that there are a lot of people in the world. Planes, trains and automobiles give us access to big cities and vacation hot spots, and every where we go we find there are thousands (if not millions) of people there as well.

Theoretically, the technology and movement across the globe should help connect us. Theoretically, technology should make the world feel smaller. And I suppose in certain ways it does. Facebook does bring us back in touch with old high school buddies. Cable news does let us hear about what is going on with your family on the East Coast.

But, for most of us, technology works both ways. Yes, it makes the world smaller. But, it frequently does something else: It can very easily make us feel small. We begin to see ourselves as rather insignificant.

Well, there are two things I want to say about feeling insignificant.

First of all, God never sees us as insignificant, or just another person. While God does see the big picture, God also sees every intimate detail. Sometimes we can forget this - assuming that God watches us from above like an air traffic controller. That is a fallacious view, though. God sees every face whose mascara has run from crying. God hears every midnight prayer. God hears the hearty laughter shared by families at the dinner table. Because God never sees "mass humanity." God sees every person in a way profoundly more intimate than anything we can ever imagine or know.

Secondly, I want to say that one of the gifts church community can give us is the gift of significance. In a world that does threaten to make us a number, we need places where we can come and be a person. And this is what we can be for each other. Indeed, I heard many of you comment last week on how nice it was to see many familiar faces again after the summer of vacations and other jaunts. That is also why I am so grateful for our fellowship hour after church.

We'll gather for worship this Sunday and continue hearing from the Apostle Paul. We'll have the chance to consider how this man's life got launched into a life of service. And, before worship we'll have the chance to talk about a book that has become popular: The Shack. If you're interested in joining that conversation, please meet us in the Bible Study room just north of my office at 8:30 am.

Blessings,

Wes

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