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"O Lord, with your eyes you have searched me, and while smiling have called out my name. Now
my boat's left on the shoreline behind me; by your side I will seek other seas."*
* From the Hymn "Tu Has Venido a la Orilla"
The United Methodist Hymnal, (United Methodist Publishing House: Nashville, 1989), 344.
* From the Hymn "Tu Has Venido a la Orilla"
The United Methodist Hymnal, (United Methodist Publishing House: Nashville, 1989), 344.
Calling the Beautiful Future
Hope Like a Flower...
Hope, the real thing, is a lot like a flower blooming in the cracks between the side walk slabs. How do we sustain the delicate green trust that all human beings can live together in peace? How does an individual sustain a serious emotional and spiritual commitment to ending poverty? What is it that helps us to stay blossomed, connected, and calm when we consider that our earthly lives will one day come to an end?
Trust...
The first step toward this kind of powerful living hope is to trust that the story of humanity is in the hands of our Creator. The hope for peace, the vision of abundant living for the poor and wealthy, the desire for life after death, these are not only our hopes, they are also God's hope living in us. If one begins to understand hope not as a choice or act of will, but as a living gift of God, then our part in sustaining and nurturing hope may become clear.
At Dryden United Methodist Church, we worship precisely because God lends us hope. When our eyes become tired by what we see and our hearts run out of precious trust that all will be well, God is there opening the divine heart to us in worship. We can sing again because God's heart reawakens our hearts. Our God has become vulnerable, like wildflowers growing in the cracks of the sidewalk in order to share with us the love that has the power to awaken us to this precious day in the life of Creation. It is said in Scripture that each time one of us allows ourselves to be awakened to an active trust in God there is a tremendous celebration in heaven. It is then that God's hope lives in us and we are set free to move joyfully in the world.
Hope Like a Flower...
Hope, the real thing, is a lot like a flower blooming in the cracks between the side walk slabs. How do we sustain the delicate green trust that all human beings can live together in peace? How does an individual sustain a serious emotional and spiritual commitment to ending poverty? What is it that helps us to stay blossomed, connected, and calm when we consider that our earthly lives will one day come to an end?
Trust...
The first step toward this kind of powerful living hope is to trust that the story of humanity is in the hands of our Creator. The hope for peace, the vision of abundant living for the poor and wealthy, the desire for life after death, these are not only our hopes, they are also God's hope living in us. If one begins to understand hope not as a choice or act of will, but as a living gift of God, then our part in sustaining and nurturing hope may become clear.
At Dryden United Methodist Church, we worship precisely because God lends us hope. When our eyes become tired by what we see and our hearts run out of precious trust that all will be well, God is there opening the divine heart to us in worship. We can sing again because God's heart reawakens our hearts. Our God has become vulnerable, like wildflowers growing in the cracks of the sidewalk in order to share with us the love that has the power to awaken us to this precious day in the life of Creation. It is said in Scripture that each time one of us allows ourselves to be awakened to an active trust in God there is a tremendous celebration in heaven. It is then that God's hope lives in us and we are set free to move joyfully in the world.
9 East Main Street Dryden, NY
Email: drydenumc@frontiernet.net
Email: drydenumc@frontiernet.net
Under the same management since 1831!
(607) 844-9861