In today’s reading, we have learned about love. And I would like to share with you my experience with God’s love through Trinity Church in the past 17 years. Many of you may know me as Cullen’s little brother. Cullen served many roles at Trinity church and left impossible shoes to fill, yet he did guide me along the journey. Every Christmas pageant, Cullen would play King Herod, while I played the donkey. But even in those roles, God’s love was with us. And Muffie Newell certainly shared that love.
A question that I often overlook and I think we do as a whole is, where do we see God’s love. With that I’d like to ask…Where is God’s love?
Well, I see God’s love in the numerous Advent events at Trinity. And I loved eating the animal crackers a bit more than actually making the creche.
I saw God’s love when I was training for choir cross with Nancy Gregory. Nancy Gregory’s love and dedication poured into the importance of this role of educating our youth in serving Christ. And it continued with me into my advancements into the torch bear and crucifer roles, and ultimately the altar serving role.
I saw God’s love in the Christmas Eve suppers, the numerous Valley Mission pancake breakfasts and in the eyes of the homeless being fed, as my dad made me sit down and talk to people and hear their stories.
I saw God’s love with the chair train at Trinity picnics, rolling tables out to the lawn with Paul Bugas and Susanna Larner.
God’s love was present when Richard Tankard taught me the ways of the Trinity dishwasher. And the Padawan dish dryer became the Jedi dishwasher.
God’s love was present when Richard Obenschain, yet another Richard, showed me the ways of the Trinity grill, passing along his wisdom as master burger chef.
I especially saw God’s love in our Trinity Youth Mission trip to Honduras, in June of 2022. A special thanks to Oakley, Margaret, my awesome mom, Father AJ, and all the other planners and donors for making that special trip possible.
In Honduras, we resided in a small, impoverished village amidst the rain forest outside of Copan Ruinas. We went there with the aim of constructing a church for the Honduran people to worship, a symbol of hope for the people in the village. We dug fence trenches, sewage pits, and mixed homemade concrete for building. In the spaces and breaks in between work times, we congregated with the villagers. We introduced them to countless games – bowling with mudballs and empty plastic water bottles, building Legos with the pieces we brought from home, Ultimate Frisbee, playing lacrosse with homemade sticks and used fishing line, playing baseball with dried mud balls and a tree branch. They taught me how to play the guitar and sing Honduran songs – big shoutout to Felipe, a local contractor.
Every morning, 12 of us anxiously jumped in the bed of a very well-seasoned Nissan pickup truck and prayed diligently as Father Marco navigated the trenches of the roadways on the way to the worksite. We actually made it to the worksite every day which is by itself a testament to God’s love and guidance.
By the worksite, there was this dog. He had bold brown and white fur spots; he was emaciated but knew how to win your heart. We named him Cowboy. We fed and nurtured him and he came to visit us every day at the worksite. We grew quite fond of him and it became hard to say goodbye. I still think about him from time to time and I hope he has found another family to care for him and feel God’s love.
Also on that trip, I turned 17. And as a special present, the whole congregation sang “Happy Birthday” to me in Spanish. It was beautiful. One by one, all of the children nervously walked up and hugged me as I awkwardly stood on the stage in front of the congregation. God’s love through the Holy Spirit was alive and well. I could really feel the love and it was impossible not to.
In today’s reading, Jesus not only promises to always be with us, but He reminds us that His love should be appreciated and shared. We know that we cannot see God with our eyes, yet through the comfort of the Holy Spirit we are given a way to have his presence near. One of the best ways to feel this is within the love a mother gives a child. I did not always love the things my mom made me do, but know now it shaped me into the person I am today. So thank you, Mom, and all the other mothers out there on this Generations Sunday for all that you do, and Trinity for all of the wonderful memories that I will carry on. I would not be here without you. Literally, I would not be here on this pulpit talking to all of you right now if it weren’t for my mom making me.
Find God’s love in everything: the trees and pain and nights in the spring.
-Harrison Wallace graduates from Shenandoah Valley Governor’s School on May 13 and Staunton High School on May 20. He will attend Virginia Teach in the fall, studying business and property management.
Generations Sunday and Mother’s Day, May 14, 2023
Reading: Luke 14:15-21
