Witness

By Steve Holmes, Grace United Methodist Church

Like most people I am tired of hearing that we are living in challenging times. Or worse, “unprecedented challenging times.”  Yes, this is a challenging time. Most of us are stuck at home, only interacting with people other than our immediate family through electronic mediation, or perhaps occasionally from 6 ft. away behind masks.

And that makes it even harder than normal to witness to God’s glory and greatness. It’s even hard to be aware of God’s goodness now. I’m used to feeling God’s presence most out in majestic nature: forests, mountains, canyons, or even just at the local state park. But we aren’t even able to do those things right now. Let alone witness.

But then I remember that all of creation is holy and has been holy since the beginning. I can just look out my window at the snow covered ground, or, once the weather improves, just walk around my yard and play with my dog. I see God’s goodness in the birds and the trees, and even the snow. I see God’s goodness just picking out a piece of lumber for a project I’m working on, or in the firewood I’m collecting for the wood stove.

Witnessing might not be face to face very often. Frankly, I’ve always found witnessing a challenge in the best of times. But I think a text or phone call to let someone know you are thinking of them and to tell them how wonderful they are, and maybe how you are finding God’s glory in the simple things of God’s creation is about as good as it gets in these challenging times.