Seeing God in the Summer

This summer we have three young people who will be SICM interns serving in our Schenectady neighborhoods and communities. Seven youths will be traveling to Maine to work in the REACH work camp. We are also sponsoring five youths to attend Christian summer camps. And I believe most of you have already planned some vacation days.

I’d like to encourage you to do one thing this summer, namely, to capture at least one moment when and where you see God in the world.

Last fall I gave each child in our midst a disposable camera and asked them to take pictures of where they see God. What came out of their cameras were their family members, pets, pumpkins, sky, trees, Christmas decorations….

A few weeks back, on Mother’s Day Sunday, I shared with you during the worship images of God in women and mothers (see the following pages).

Too often we forget or overlook where God is in our daily lives, because we are too busy running from one thing to another, or too focused on our work, chores, and activities. Therefore, we become disconnected with God and our faith in our daily living. We tend to think of God on Sunday mornings only. Summer gives us a little bit more breathing and relaxed time to see God. In our family gatherings, social picnics, in our traveling, in our outdoor activities close to nature, in our summer readings… let’s look for God, let’s capture some moments if we could – with a camera, a journal entry, a sketch, a poster, a poetic sentence – where we see God in the world.

And when we all gather again in the fall, let us share with one another those moments we have captured over the summer.