September 6, 2002



Pastor's Corner

Dear Friends,

I was recently reading a little book by Henry Nouwen entitled, "Can You Drink the Cup?" His questions in the first chapter
hooked me and caused me to stop and ponder deeply.

Since, I was drawn into sincere contemplation I thought it only fitting to draw all of you into this same reflection. Nouwen starts
off with the question Jesus asks John and James, "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" and the Nouwen asks us to dig
down deep into what drinking the cup entails.

Here is an excerpt of his book: Can you drink the cup? Can you empty it to the dregs? Can you taste all the sorrows and joys?
Can you live your life to the full whatever it will bring? . . .

But why should we drink this cup?

There is so much pain, so much anguish, so much violence. Why should we drink the cup? Wouldn't it be a lot easier to live
normal lives with a minimum of pain and a maximum of pleasure? ...

Drinking the cup is much more than gulping down whatever happens to be in there, just as breaking the bread is much more than
tearing a loaf apart.

Drinking the sup of life involves holding, lifting, and drinking. It is a full celebration of being human.

Can we drink the cup that Jesus drinks? I know the difficulty of that question. It means living in full assuredness that in all of life
God holds me in Gods hands. This then means that my living is to be a life of a person of God in all the sorrows and joys, in all the
easy and hard moments. It means living out what God expects of me no matter how difficult it may be...the difficult nature of the
life of a Christian does not give me an" out" . . .1 still must drink the cup… I still must carry the cross.

Will you gather with me to drink the cup?

God's promise is sure and true that God will not let your foot slip-He who watches over you will not slumber (Psalm 121).

May God bless us!

With much love,

Rev. Nicole Richardson