Showing Up

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. Matthew 22:8-10

We are madly packing up for a brief but sorely needed vacation at my Mom's house. We are truly fortunate to have a place to go in the summer, where family and friends can gather year after year and catch up. The annual fourth of Joly bicycle parade ends on our lawn with more than 500 people waiting on cookies, cool Ade and water ice to slake their thirst after a slow ride behind the fire engines. After nearly 40 years it has become such a part of our lives that it is complicated in its routine-ness. It holds memories of past summers, of the no longer living who dressed and paraded with the best. It has always reminded me that showing up is the most important part of being a family or a community, being with others makes the celebration complete.

As we pack cars and think of all the last minute things, it is easy to just throw up one's hands and give up the effort. Showing up is work and requires that we change our patterns and our time lines. But God is always inviting us to show up because right there in the midst of showing up is the presence of God. God had invited us to find love in the midst of our messy families, our messy communities. May we all have the strength and courage to show up, so that God can delight and transform us again.