Highland Presbyterian Church

As I'm looking out my office window, it is a grey rainy day. Most of the trees around the church thta I can see have lost their leaves, except for one bright red tree by the building next door. We're deep in the throes of fall; Advent begins a week from Sunday and Christmas and New Years are right around the corner.

Time always passes quickly for me in the churches I serve as interim pastor. It usually seems as if I just get to know the people and it's time to move on. I've been here at Highland for a little over 6 months, which is about the halfway point if things go forward smoothly. Most churches I serve I only have one Advent season and one Lenten season and some ordinary time-- and then I'm off to something new. But this is a good thing, because when we get to that point I know I've done my job and the church will move forward into the future God has for them.

The second letter of Peter tells us that "with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day." When we get in a hurry to live our lives, when we get so busy that we can't see straight and the days just run together; when the seasons of the year come faster and faster; when we are frustrated and feel abandoned by God because things don't happen as fast as we want them to, we can remember these words and take comfort in the fact that God is with us always-- and not just when we command God's presence.