People get together in many ways. Maybe it's weekly softball (or cricket perhaps) in the summer; or it's every day at work; even living in the same apartment building is a way of sharing common interests. But, of course, there's nothing quite like the unity that comes through church membership.
The softball team is a seasonal arrangement. Even workplaces are frequently temporary—people come and go continually. And statistics say that we'll move our residence nearly a dozen times. But church membership—even when we transfer from one branch church to another—means commitment. And the shared values by which we work together, drawn from the Bible and Mrs. Eddy's writings, remain constant.
Now here's what I'm getting at. If we tire of softball, or are disappointed with the lack of opportunity in a job, or need better housing, we can make adjustments. We do what's necessary and move forward. But don't we expect fellow church members not to fail us in any way and sometimes almost find ourselves immobilized if we're disappointed?
Perhaps we need to be more aware of how much we're expecting of each other in church and be a shade more ready to really pray when someone stumbles and doesn't live up to what we expect. Maybe if we're more honest with ourselves, we'll realize there's a whole lot to gain—for all of us—if we add a few more measures of compassion and forgiveness to our dedication in church.
When tough times confront us and our fellow church members, there's much that can be done as we get closer to something Mrs. Eddy thought was essential to restoring harmony in human affairs: "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God."Miscellaneous Writings, p. 354.
It's a sentence's worth of counsel that can go a long way in fulfilling our Church's mission and hope.
