Saturday, April 21, 2007

Hail, Fellows, Well Met

THOUGHTS ON FELLOWSHIP


I was supposed to say a few words on fellowship recently at the last gathering of a group at my church. Instead I was at home recovering from a colonoscopy – or rather the preparation-from-hell for the event itself.

I had jotted down a few notes ahead of time, so I expanded briefly on these and sent along a copy to the meeting. It said:

One of the things I have really loved about this mentoring program has been becoming part of a fellowship.

I’m a fan of the Lord of the Rings trilogy by Tolkein. I read the books long before the movies came out. The first book is called The Fellowship of the Ring. It’s about a band of people – including a dwarf, an elf, a wizard, several hobbits and a few men – who came together to try to destroy a ring that could ruin their world.

They did not know each other when they started on the task. Some of them didn’t even like each other much. But as they journeyed together, through rough, even dangerous times and ways, they grew to love each other.

We are a fellowship, too, a fellowship of those seeking to know the Lord better and to follow Him more closely. We have come together to share with each other some of the exciting and even maybe dangerous ways our journey with the Lord.

I have loved it. Nothing thrills me more than this kind of sharing. It speaks of Truth and what it means to live within it.

The one-to-one sharing has been especially wonderful, but the fellowship of the larger group has also been very meaningful to me. As I walk through the halls now I know more of you than I did before – and I know you as companions on the same journey.

Thank you all for being this fellowship of the Lord and letting me be part of it.

2 comments:

John Cowart said...

I'm glad to see you posted this. I tend to forget the fellowship aspect of our faith.

Pat said...

I too have recovered from the torture that is called colonoscopy prep!
Fellowship is so important - I've seen lives lived alone and lives rich in fellowship and I'll take the later.