Pine Mountain in Harlan County, Kentucky

"Reconnecting"

As I write these words, I am a short time from leaving town. My mission is a camping trip, something I have enjoyed doing for as long as I can remember. Let me warn you, if you are not an experienced camper: There's a lot of work involved in getting ready! I have already spent much time getting gear together and purchasing groceries and other needed items. I'll admit, it would be much simpler to stay home.

Why, then, am I going camping? It's all about reconnecting. For a boy who grew up running the ridges of Pine Mountain in Harlan County, Kentucky, I spend an awful lot of time indoors. Camping puts me smack-dab in the middle of nature. I love the sound of jar flies (cicadas) at night; the whoosh of wind in the pine needles above me; the soothing sounds of nearby streams. I need to reconnect with God's universe! (This trip will also give me time to reconnect with one of my sons.)

Last weekend I made another trip, this one to attend a memorial service for an uncle who had passed on. Again, there was a disruption of my normal routine. A few hours were spent driving there and back. But it was again an opportunity to reconnect with family who were once a frequent part of my life. Funerals are sad occasions on one hand, but they give us chances to remember bonds that have been so dear.

The book of Nehemiah is a book about reconnecting. The Jewish people had spent 70 years in exile in the faraway land of Babylon. The Persian Empire rose to power and all captives were freed to return to their homes. Nehemiah followed later, and played a powerful role in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

One aspect of Jewish life that needed to be rebuilt was the worship God had revealed to His people. In Nehemiah 8:14, "... they found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded by Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month." The Feast of Tabernacles (Booths) must have been an odd sight to the outsider. Why were these people "camping out"? For an entire week the Jews dwelt in rough structures made of tree limbs and branches.

Why did God have His people do such a thing? "... that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 23:43). Reconnect with your heritage!

Memorials have always been a part of God's plan. The weekly observance of the Lord's Supper (Luke 22:19,20; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 11:26) is a memorial given to God's people today. Each Lord's Day we reconnect with the only power able to reconnect us to our God - the blood of Christ. Though it may seem a disruption of free time to some, many of us have come to see how vital it is that we reconnect.

Timothy D. Hall.