“If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:26
It had been a while since my wife and I had gotten away together by ourselves. We were desperate to do so. Since she had Monday off I planned a trip to do something we had never done before. So after church on Sunday, we quickly grabbed what we thought we needed and headed to the Florida Everglades for an overnight stay and an air-boat ride. It seemed strange to have lived here so long and never been on an air-boat. We had visions of flying across the open grass like they show in the brochures. But that didn’t happen.
When we got to the hotel, we again discovered that theory and reality were two separate things. “we could have brought,” became a saying as we discovered there really wasn’t a lot to do down there at night. RURAL was an understatement! The air conditioner and TV didn’t work right and neither of us slept very well. But we were in ‘together.’ The next day, adrenaline started to flow as we got onto the air-boat and into the mangroves where our guide ‘opened ‘er up!’ There…theory and reality met once again!
While it was exhilarating, we never REALLY went that fast, never REALLY got out of the mangroves, and didn’t REALLY see anything we hadn’t seen before. But we REALLY laughed and joked and had a good time all the same. Because we were there, alone, TOGETHER! Which was REALLY our main goal all along!
The Church is called ‘The Bride of Christ.’ She resides, presently, on Earth. We all know, Earth is NOT how Earth was created to be. We ALL carry within our being the knowledge that things are NOT what they were meant to be. Reality and theory are common bedfellows as joy and disappointment can come from the same event. But “The Bride” has a distinct advantage. We are all in this TOGETHER!
Church is a place were blemished saints congregate to strengthen and support one another. We all KNOW we are headed for a perfect future! But for now, the realities of life can be disappointing. THAT is why it is so important that we stick together. Thorough joys and sorrow, fears and cheers, we have the ability to encourage, pray for and support each other. It is a gift that we tend to take for granted. We should not!
My wife and I share our experiences together. From now on, when someone mentions ‘The Everglades’ in our company, we will look at each other and smile! We have ‘been there and done that!’ When someone tells us they are headed that way, we might even suggest a thing or two to make THEIR trip more enjoyable. But that does NOT mean WE wasted the trip!
