A Bright Light

Julie and I met Lesley Myers and her father, Dan, at a Joni and Friends Family Retreat almost ten years ago. The retreat was designed for families with disabilities, and Dan and Lesley fit right in. Lesley was a teenager, bright eyed and happy while managing CP. Dan was her primary caregiver. They found life, hope, and community at Camp Allen that summer, and they have attended every camp since, usually with other members of their family. They are on our short list of favorite faces.

But now we grieve with them, because Lesley died on Valentine's Day.

Lesley had a hard time speaking, but those who allowed her time to find the words on her voice computer knew that she was funny, smart, and a willing participant in the conversation. She was also a delightful, willing participant in life.

This summer I enjoyed watching Lesley go for a ride on horseback. It is hard to imagine a family retreat without that smiling face, easy to imagine what that smile must look like in the presence of her Savior.

Bob

Communion

On top of a granite mountain in west Texas, seven of us gathered around the elements signifying our shared communion in Christ. The bread and the wine, taken for centuries in remembrance of Christ's death and in anticipation of His coming. It reminds us that the Son of God shares our humanity through the Incarnation, taking even our mortality upon Himself. Having died for us, and having been raised from the dead, He remains accessible to us through the Spirit until that day when we commune with Him face to face.

These powerful symbols of the faith lay before us in a grandmother's best china, resting on a colorful cloth brought home this summer from Kenya. Partaking of the sacrament brings families, friends, near neighbors, and far neighbors to the common table, at which Jesus is our Host.