Day 26

 The fellowship of the Church will not be renewed by you as an individual.  You cannot go to the people and say, “This Church ought to be friendlier and warmer.”  That is the direct approach which does not recognize that fellowship comes indirectly.  What we must do is to form a small, natural group within the parish or within the organization of the auxiliary (Episcopal Church Women).  This group must share deeply worship, Bible reading, study, and missionary interest.  You must share with one another on the deepest level, even though it will seem awkward at first, your faith, your questions, your doubts, your dreams.  Such a group will do more than many sermons to wake a sleeping congregation, and deepen our own lives.  The same thing, of course, can be achieved in clusters at conferences, but for the real revival of the parish, they should exist at the local level.

One of the things which often bothers me is how little we really know each other.  Each one of us a like a fortress with his ego bottled up inside.  The shy woman hides in her fortress, and never lets you see her.  The cynical man throws up the shield of his cynicism so you may not see him.  And how often all the talk and business are walls behind which we hide our true belief and honest doubts!  How seldom we really meet another person or share deeply the things that would make us friends!  How often in business sessions and efficient organizations we miss the one thing for which our hearts long and the Lord wants of us!  And because we do not really share, our work is thin and we are still hungry!

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