Rev. Don Erickson

This is the 2nd Part of a Sermon Series titled "The C3P2 Church." Last week we discussed C ommunity. This week is C onnection. Next week is C ompassion. The C3 of Community, Connection, and Compassion will be followed by the P2 of Prayerfulness and Progress. 1. To God “Breath…Light…Us… (Genesis 1) “God is Breath…” (John 4:24); “God is Love…” (I John 4:8, 16); “God is Light…” (I John 1:5) God is Breath, scripture originally says. And Breath breathed, breathes life into us in the beginning, at the dawn of Creation. The Life of God enlivens Life in us, through us. We are alive in God. Our connection to our Life-Giver more a inter-bond, unbounding us to do Divine Life’s work. God is Light, scripture originally says. And Light enlightened the stars and sun, sculpting this universe, the source of creativity. The Light of God undimmed our dark rooms. We are now alight in God. Our connection to our Enlightener more an extension from You to me and out to the world.    

Thumbing through the library’s card catalog (yes, card catalog!), I came upon a new card with a new book that looked very intriguing –  Testament of Hope: The Essential Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King. Coincidentally, I was in the throes of a self-study of the Civil Rights Movement at the time, and this was surely an essential new addition to that study. In a more lasting way, it is this book that in many ways is responsible for my marriage and that marriage's child. Let me tell you the story now that is now part of family lore. I excitedly went to locate that book that day. But the book wasn’t in the new arrivals section as it should have been. I wrote down the call number, went downstairs to the stacks, and where the book was supposed to be there was just empty space. I went to the checkout desk and asked about it. They informed me it had just been checked out, but that I could place a reserve on the book so that no renewals could be placed on it after the short borrowing time