Approximately 20 years ago I was
introduced to Flat Stanley when
pastor Carl stood him on the edge of the pulpit and explained he was helping
his niece with a school project. Flat Stanley was an elderly 30 at the time,
but the children’s letter-writing project with Stanley posing for photographs
in unusual places was just beginning.
Cut to September 2014 with Laurel and me
seeing some spectacular European sites. A 21st Century observation
is that hands down, the greatest danger to tourists is other tourists taking
selfies. Lots of random stopping!
In the Louvre, a significant number of
the huge throng in line for Mona Lisa, literally turn their back on the
masterpiece to snap a selfie proving that they have stood in front of the
surprisingly small art piece.
That’s the point, isn’t it – to verify
attendance at a moment in history.
Last October, my friend, Rabbi Craig,
reported on Facebook that he couldn’t afford a game seven World Series ticket
for his beloved Royals, but he couldn’t NOT be in Kansas City, so he would
drive 200 miles to the Power and Light district to watch with other fans on a
big screen. 20 minutes before the first
pitch, a Facebook selfie shows up with Craig AT THE GAME! I haven’t heard that
whole story yet.
This week at church, Stanley became
three-dimensional. To commemorate of our 110th year of ministry,
during the passing of the peace, we were invited to take selfies and later post
them on social media to verify our presence at this moment in the church’s
history. It was a buzz. It was significantly more lively than any other passing
of the peace – EVER. I liked doing it except for this. In an important way, it
took my “eye off the ball”.
I have come to believe that one of the
best Sunday morning gifts I can give is to look my pew neighbor in the eye and
offer the Peace of Christ. As a pastor once told us, “What we need more than
another ‘Good Morning’, is The Peace of Christ.” I have carefully never said
“Good Morning” during this part of the service for over 20 years.
So this selfie project disturbed my
intentional delivery of Christ’s Peace like I have long made a habit of doing.
But the tradeoff is having Stanley and/or ourselves being photographed in an
unusual and important place.
What good things to do – 110 years of
service, and
have the Peace of Christ be with you.
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