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Dear San Marco Church Family: For several years, I served as a volunteer in Kairos Prison Ministry. Kairos is a 3-4 day spiritual retreat for prison inmates. The program is similar to the Walk to Emmaus spiritual retreat, with which you may be familiar. Kairos weekends, while involving significant time and attention, were among my most rewarding ministry experiences. The participating inmates are generally very grateful to be treated as human beings with inherent dignity, and hearing their life stories reminded me that there is so much more to all of us than the events of our worst, most regrettable days. One of the speeches on Kairos weekends is called the rooster story. It is about a young man whose father gives him a nice car on his birthday. Unfortunately, the young man ends up driving too fast and colliding with his father’s prize winning rooster. The rooster dies, but the father graciously forgives the son and tells the son to go bury the rooster in the back yard. The son buries the rooster, but then he feels so guilty about what he has done that he digs the rooster up again and takes it with him to beg his father’s forgiveness. The son does this on more than one occasion, and at some point the father says, “I forgave you. Why do you keep digging up the rooster?” The story is meant to remind us all that once God forgives us for any mistakes in our lives, we do not have to live with guilt or regret. Psalm 103 tells us that, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” I know how difficult it can be to accept God’s forgiveness and move on with our lives. Yet it is really important that we “bury our roosters” permanently so that we can live the abundant lives God has for us. This Sunday, March 15, I will be sharing a message based upon John 9: 1-16, the story of the blind man that Jesus heals. The message will explore the many meanings of blindness in our lives, especially blindness that is not physical. Please plan to attend worship and please pray for everyone involved in our worship team. We appreciate your prayers. I look forward to seeing you Sunday! Steve
stevehart100@gmail.com
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