I love this time of year. Sure, I lament the loss of the summer, but when autumn rolls around there’s so much to enjoy! Fall leaves are beautiful. Pots of hot water start whistling on stovetops as if to announce that the family will soon be gathering around the table for time together and hot chocolate. Then there’s the sleeping…

My old fixer-upper of a home has all electric heat. In order to offset high electric bills Carol and I keep the house fairly cold. At the end of the night, I climb into bed and cool, uncomfortable sheets greet me. In no time at all, the bed warms up and I reach what I heard a man once call “perfect comfy” status. Essentially, I melt into the bed. This is where it and I become one. It’s glorious. Before I know it, it’s morning and I feel like I’m trying to come out of hibernation.

Getting up in the morning becomes a competition with my “perfect comfy” state. I ponder the path of lease resistance, which involves the snooze button and the hope to reach REM sleep in a 9 minute time span. Yet the day calls!

We have no choice. We have to get out of bed! That’s what capable, responsible adults do, but, when was the last time that you forced yourself out of a comfortable faith or belief system?

I make no concession on this point: the church is one of the few places left where people can come to be challenged out of their comfort zones for the betterment of themselves and the community with power. Churchgoers present themselves as weapons to the forge and hope to come out as sharper tools for the work of good. They are challenged on every level- spiritual, emotional and even physical. They leave their “church of one” where the only demands they need to meet are their own and immerse themselves in a community who care to help them meet the challenge.

For all those willing to answer the challenge, welcome to the forge. This is where we break from hibernation to embrace the cool and sometimes stinging edge of personal spiritual discipline. This is where adventure and purpose are found. For all others, the day calls! We pray that the mirage of “perfect comfy” dissipates and the vision of something greater replaces it.

Pastor Travis