Noon Daily Devotions

Hood Memorial Christian Church has committed to find new and creative ways to be the church, even when we can’t physically be present with one another because of restrictions and safety precautions with the COVID-19 Coronavirus. We will connect each day this week at Noon for a daily devotional led by Pastors Joanie and Jason. Each day, for 10-15 minutes, we will gather using the same conference call technology that we used this morning for our worship. You may call in and Pastors Jason and Joanie will lead us through scriptures and daily thoughts. We invite you to join us each day and to share this with all of your friends and neighbors. With the help of technology, in the comfort of our own spaces, we will gather in Jesus’ name.
You may use one of the following ways to join us tomorrow:

1. Phone: Call (563) 999-1222
2. Mobile Device: Download “Free Conference Call” App from the AppStore & Use Meeting ID: hoodchurch
   Download for Android – Download for Apple
3. Computer: Connect to the Internet and Visit – https://join.freeconferencecall.com/hoodchurch

The following is a poem by Sarah Are.
www.sanctifiedart.org

THE WILDERNESS IS A PLACE OF ISOLATION;
IT IS ALSO A PLACE OF CONNECTION

We sat around a six person table,
For don’t most holy moments happen
around a table?
Six women, six heartbeats, six names and identities.

We gathered there once every twelve days,
To read and pray, to learn each other’s names.
It was nothing more than a burger bar,
And we were nothing more than the truths
we shared,
So sitting around a basket of fries,
I assumed I knew everyone there.

But then the woman directly to my right
Said quietly to the group of six that night,
“I had an abortion when I was young.”
And my heart stopped. And my heart sunk.

For she had kept this wilderness in.
She had carried this weight alone.
She had grieved and prayed for peace,
And I had never even known.

She went on to speak of hurt and grief,
Of a prayer to God to end suffering.
She went on to tell us her most
vulnerable truth,
And in an instant that small leather booth
Became church.

For in naming the wilderness,
that space became
Not only the place of her greatest pain,
But also the place where we became
One.

In an instant, she became her own light.
And in an instant, we were changed.
For in that instant, we saw her
wilderness walk,
So in that instant, we became
Six names, six united identities,
one heartbeat.

I think the wilderness does that.
Sometimes you walk it alone.
And sometimes you tell that story
And a booth becomes home.