A Prayer a Day: Good afternoon, Heavenly Father. It’s a rainy day in Springfield,Ohio. Every drop seems to make the grass greener and the flowers bigger. Thank you, God, for the rain that cleans, feeds, and waters our earth. Today, I spent some time thinking about the point of any of us attending church.I have heard many people over the years, explain to me that there really isn’t any good reason to go to church. Many years ago, when I was in my early twenties, I took a two-year vacation from church attendance. Before I took this vacation,I was attending a church where the pastor, a wonderful and godly man, did not agree with me about what happens in the afterlife if a person commits suicide. The pastor and I each had strong and opposing beliefs on the subject. Lord, that is another story and another prayer. Anyway, I didn’t go to church for a couple of years.The reason I ended up going back to church, in addition to you, God, drawing me back, was how ridiculous my thinking became without people to interact with about spiritual matters. While I was home, those two years, I read my Bible, sang hymns, danced in the Spirit, and prayed frequently. It was just you and me, God, and it was heaven on earth. I read a lot about your Son, Jesus’ love for humanity. I started to think I was quite a bit like Jesus myself. While I was home not interacting with other people much, I thought I was like Jesus: we both loved everyone. One day when I was praying, you, God, sent the Holy Spirit to speak in my heart and mind and you said, “Of course, you love everyone, you are keeping everyone at a safe distance. You aren’t anything like Jesus.He hugged stinky people, ate with sinners and outcasts; he healed and helped everyone.” So, I thought about that prayer time and what you said, Lord, and I could see staying home, away from the church wasn’t making me like Jesus, it was making me delusional. So, as you know, Lord, I’ve been back in the church since 1979, as a lay woman, a licensed pastor since 1994, and an ordained Elder since 2007. Lord, help us remember you call each of us into the church, so we can do more for you, and so we can help each other keep it real. Help us, Lord, to become more like Jesus each day. Come Holy Spirit and make it so:amen.