Tuesday, December 19, 2023

“For the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

Illustrated by Graham Trimmer, age 9

When I was a child, one of our family traditions was that my parents would wait until Christmas Eve (after my brother and sister and I went to bed) to decorate our Christmas tree. When we woke up, we waited upstairs to get the “go ahead” to barrel down the steps and view Santa’s bounty in front of the amazing bright, colorful, sparkly, decorated and sometimes sprayed with fake snow (if my dad remembered to do it before the ornaments went on) Christmas tree. To this day, I don’t know how they did it. On top of the stress and exhaustion the holiday can bring, the demands of cooking, wrapping and now the stress of hours of decorating a tree……. I can only imagine there were some words exchanged in an exhausted state (like maybe when dad forgot to spray the tree). But they did it, year after year, to give us the “WOW” factor that I remember so nostalgically and lovingly to this day.

This type of selfless generosity reminds me of our congregation and the countless ways I see members making life magical for others. Whether it is those who share their life stories to help others, those who have a talent in bringing joy through sewing, knitting or crafts, those who volunteer to bring or serve food at the shelters, those who greet others with a welcoming smile at church or those that share their amazing musical gifts. Our church community really is a symphony of its individual players and boy, do we have Beethoven-like sound.

I take great solace in seeing God’s grace shown in so many ways by and through the people that call SMPC home. You never know what your small kindness may mean to someone who is struggling. I continue to be grateful I found this church home 24 years ago and am so grateful for the immeasurable ways my life has been made more magical by this church community.

Loving God, thank you for those who make magic for others. May it serve as an inspiration for others to be inspired to share the gifts you have given them.

Tara Garrity