Tonight was the first in MUMC’s Lenten series based around James A. Harnish’s Living with the Mind of Christ. I was a little surprised by the demographics of the room; I’d put the median age at 63 or so. I was the only one in the room under 45 or so; those folks under 60 typically were folks from chancel choir that I knew pretty well. I was comfortable with being around folks older than my parents, though, for some reason.

The first week of Harnish’s study centered around the power of agape love expressed in our communities changing our minds [and, I'd add, hearts]. Harnish drew on the writings of Philip Yancey, Luther D. Ivory, and Martin Luther King, Jr., in making his point. Harnish also used the Parable of the Good Samaritan as a talking point.

I wasn’t so much stirred by Harnish’s words as I was the responses to the questions posed at the end. One fellow congregant spoke of how encouragement to join our community of believers after his wife died truly brought him into the family of God as he never had before, as he was largely what most of us think of as an “Easter and Christmas” Christian [my term, not his]. It was inspiring to see someone come to now God through His son late in life and to hear his testimony in his own words. Others spoke of the encouragement and love shown them by their wives. I spoke of experiences in youth ministry where kids I mentored showed love to others outside our church community simply because God first loved them.

All the discussion affirmed to me that I’m in the right church body for me at this point in my life. I look forward to seeing what the love this community shows me does in changing me. They have already started.