By Julia J.
Good Morning!
I’m Julia J. and I’m surprised to be here this morning on behalf of the Board of Adult Education.
I’d like to give you a brief picture about how it is that I find myself here this morning:
It’ll be two years next month — November — that I came to United Church for the first time. I had recently moved to Chapel Hill and I had been “unchurched” for twenty years. Twenty years is a long time. I had spent those twenty years working as a pastoral counselor and I heard a LOT of horror stories of hurt, abuse, and other misadventures in local church life where I used to live. I was low on hope, but old friends June and Bob W. said they appreciated United Church. And June and Bob are reliable people!
So . . . that first Sunday, as I sat in the service, I felt my eyes fill up with tears. This was so amazing! I’m not a person who cries a lot, but I recognized that these were tears of being ‘moved’. And then, in further amazement, I realized: “This is a HEALTHY church!” Well, what did I mean by a ‘healthy church?’ What I meant, and what I continue to experience, was that this is a bunch of diverse people who apparently come together to WORSHIP GOD!! They weren’t worshiping the clergy, and they weren’t worshiping the choir! Now we all know that the clergy are terrific and the music here blows us away on a regular basis. But the clergy and the many musicians are all here to worship God with everything they’ve got.
Fast Forward one year. I got a phone call asking if I would join the Board of Adult Education and without a moment’s hesitation, I said “yes.” Again, I was surprised at myself. I don’t LIKE to go to meetings . . Especially NIGHT meetings. At 70, aren’t I too old for this? But I do appreciate education and maybe I still have an ounce to give.
The ‘ounce’ that I have left to give often comes out like a challenge . . . Worship is so central to me that I want to know what the Board’s many ideas for adult ed have to do with worship?! And that excellent and able group tells me: “We are co-creators with God, responsible for God’s creation.” And as I hear that familiar phrase from my long-ago seminary days, I remember another one: “One way to recognize the movement of the Holy Spirit is that it takes you to places you never thought you would go!”
So here I am, learning freshly, things I once thought I knew. It is never too late to learn more. And since I know better than to say no to the Holy Spirit, I say ‘yes’ . . . and sometimes, even “WOW!! And part of that saying ‘yes’ is a recommitment to devote my time, my talent, and my treasure to worship, whatever form that may take.