"Be doers of the Word and not merely hearers." James 1:22

In her poem, The Journey, Mary Oliver writes,
One day you finally knew
what you had to do, and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice.

What the poet is suggesting is that there comes a time in all of our lives when we need to acknowledge what we know we have to do... and then to do it - to be what deep in our hearts we want to be, were meant to be. It's the feeling that we were made for something more than working and living, spending and accumulating, entertaining others and amusing ourselves. It's the feeling that we want our lives to count.

But, as the poet warns, there will never be a shortage of other voices around you telling you what you need to do. Their advice, she says, is mostly "bad."

It's not easy to know what you need to do, to know what voice to heed, is it? Nevertheless, we believe that among all those other voices clamoring for our attention there is one Voice which is true and trustworthy. And a good way to recognize that one true Voice is to remember, as Frederick Buechner puts it, that the "work God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."

This Sunday in the Service of Ordination and Installation we will recognize those who have heard that Voice even as we renew our commitment with them to heed its call, to live a life that matters.

Gracious God, our lives are in your hands.
We trust You with them.
Help us to hear Your voice among
all the others clamoring for our
attention, to live live of integrity,
hope and love, compassion
and kindness, that we might
be used by You to make
a saving difference in the world,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Donald Gordon Lewis, Jr
Pastor

PRESBYTERY-WIDE Youth Worship Celebration
Sunday, April 27
Recreation 3:00 pm
Worship 4:30 pm
The Rev. Perryn Rice and our CCPC Youth will lead this time of worship!
Contact Pastor Jeremy at 972-238-8103 ext 311 or
jwilhelmi@canyoncreekpres.org for more information.