In Real Life - "Better to be Seen than Viewed" by Reverend Greg LaDue for Monday, 24 February 2014

In Real Life - "Better to be Seen than Viewed" by Reverend Greg  LaDue for Monday, 24 February 2014
I had a birthday this month. They just keep coming, which I suppose is better than the alternative. My friend Johnny, who is also a pastor, shared that he just lost a dear friend who had a real way with words. Johnny once greeted him by saying it was good to see him and the man’s reply was, “it’s better to be seen than viewed!”
The other night I watched a special about the 50th anniversary of The Beatles appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. I realize as I write that, that many of you reading this may know the Beatles, but have no idea who Ed Sullivan is. Wow.
I was just 16 by one day when that show aired. I'm now 66 years old and I have no idea where the time has gone. But as I recalled that experience, I remember where I was that night. I was at a friend’s house watching. It was someone I knew from my church youth group. 
That led me to reflect on how that church and my “accidental” involvement there led to a lifetime of involvement with the church and how the pastors and laity at that church had no idea what they gave me, would eventually take me.
This is what planting seeds are. You share what is real to you and you have no idea, what it will yield, but you do it because what you have is real, and it is something to be shared.
Pastor Craig is calling us to look at our health as a church. That church fed me, nurtured me and provided me with a safe environment in which to grow. And all things do grow.  Sometimes they grow things that are not healthy and we need to clear those things out so what is healthy can grow to full maturity. Then I realized, Maturity is not an automatic product of aging.
I realize I'm older, but am I an elder? 
Age does not automatically and effortlessly produce a wiser person. There is nothing magic about time passing. As we get older we have the chance to become an elder. I think this was a part of what Jesus was trying to get across to Nicodemus in John, chapter 3.  
In ancient times an elder was someone who attained an inner knowing.  Author Michael Meade says this about elders:  “elders acted as a bridge between the visible world and the unseen realms of the spirit and the soul. They were those that were in touch with the other world and they stood out because something normally invisible could be glimpsed and felt through them.” Perhaps this is why the most senior pastors as referred to as “elders”.
He further states, “Becoming older can only lead to being wiser when it involves growing deeper and incarnating further into the unique story (life) being lived out.”
I want to explore what this becoming an elder means and I invite you join me. Watch for a future class where we'll explore this lost station in life. 
Blessings, 
Rev. Greg
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