Yesterday’s sermon was a keeper. My good friend Mark Baber was filling in at our church, and he started out with an illustration of Charlie Brown and Snoopy and how Snoopy sought comfort inside Charlie Brown’s house on a dark and stormy night. They ended up with the covers pulled up to their noses with Charlie Brown talking about how he understood when a person needed comforting because they were down and depressed and when they felt alone in the world. He went on and on, and then Snoopy spoke up with, "Got any night cookies?" Snoopy wanted a little comfort food to go along with Charlie Brown’s presence and his words of encouragement. Who could blame him for wanting the comfort of a cookie?
The remainder of the sermon was to give us as fellow travelers on this journey of life three "night cookies" to comfort us along the way.
The first night cookie to comfort us was that God is present with us wherever we are. He loves us, no matter what we’ve done. He loves us anyhow. He is with us during our highs and our lows. Ever-present.
The second night cookie was that we can do nothing today about what has happened in the past. We can’t change it, and we need to put it behind us. And although we might be able to plan some for the future, it is truly in God’s hands, and it is yet to happen. The cookie–stay in today and live in today. Don’t live in the past and don’t worry about the future.
The third night cookie was that God created us to fellowship with others and for us to help bear one another’s burdens–just like Charlie Brown and Snoopy who needed the companionship of master and dog. We need our friends to help us as we go through this life and encounter the bumps and turns in the road. The help of others makes the load lighter and easier to bear.
These were wonderful words to hear for each of us in the congregation, but when a person has been given a diagnosis of any type of cancer, life and all that it means becomes all the more poignant. Crisp, fall air can bring a smile to the face, and a song can easily bring a tear to the eye. The daily-ness of life becomes less routine and more enjoyable. Just feeling good becomes a blessing and an answer to prayer.
I am so thankful for God’s presence in my life and for friends and family who make my burdens light. And I’m full of hope for the future, but still taking it one day at a time and trying to stay in today. I love night cookies!
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