Who Are You Looking For?

First United Methodist Church, Palo Alto, CA

This morning I got up at 5:00am so I could be at church at 6:30 for Easter Sunrise Service. When I went out the door I saw it was raining and since the service was outside I didn't know if the service would be canceled. I figured if it was canceled they would move it inside. I picked up my friend and went to church. It wasn't raining when I picked her up and as we were driving to the church, 30 minutes away, the rain was gone and it hadn't been raining where we were. It was dark (that's why they call it a "sunrise service") and when we got to the church there were no lights on and no cars in the parking lot. We were there at 6:20 so had a few minutes and drove around the block a couple of times to see where the service was to be held. I almost gave up, but my friend said to keep looking. We got to the front of the church and saw 8 people putting up chairs.

Fields of Gold

The sky was just starting to get a little light so we parked the car and went over to the chairs. there were 10 people at the service including my friend and I. The service was short, only 30 minutes, and was nice. We were set up facing the east, but were surrounded by the houses so we couldn't really see the sun come up. It was interesting that we were in a residential area and speaking loudly at 6:30 in the morning, but I enjoyed it. I could imagine people waking up and hearing a church service going on, you know how you will lie in bed and listen to the radio ... this was the same thing. The sermon was an Easter message about Mary Magdalene finding the tomb empty and Jesus behind her asking who she was looking for. 

The water slowly wears away the legs

The title of the sermon was, "Claiming Hope", and the minister had some intriguing things to say. As she was talking I kept thinking of the question, "Who are you looking for". I was at the service because my sister asked me to start going to church. I had stopped after my divorce and I no longer enjoyed going because I didn't want to go alone. I wanted my kids to keep going to their "home church" with their mom so they had stability in their life. I tried a few churches over the years and went to single groups, but nothing really kept my interest. Something happened to my sister recently and I felt I needed to listen to her about going to church. I kept thinking about, "who are you looking for".

Sunset in the Pacific

Last year I made a promise to myself to run 2 5K races a week. That was really hard to do because I work 3 weekends a month. I was able to do it and sometimes that meant running on weekdays, sometimes at night, sometimes on vacation. This year I will run once a month and not worry about time just do fun things in fun places. I do that to keep healthy and to have a happy life. My sister would say that is good for your physical health, what about your mental health? As I was sitting there today I decided to have a different goal this year. I will go to church once a week. That usually means church on Sunday, but if I don't do that I will go to a service or a meeting in a church if I don't go on Sunday. 

Snow is starting to melt

I still work three weekends a month and not always in the same city, so chances are I won't be going to the same church every week. I haven't been to a church I really wanted to make my home for a long time. I know I haven't found that church because I haven't taken the time to meet the people, church is about the people not about the building or the service. I keep thinking, "Who am I looking for" and I don't know if I will even know that question unless I go out to look. I plan on writing about each place I go this week and that will help me think about if I found the person or the place.

What is written on the wall?

John 20: 14-16

¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

I am on the end on the right