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Have you ever been at a party, surrounded by a group of people (many of whom you know), and yet you still feel lonely? A lot of us have plenty of people in our lives; in fact, quite a few of us are saturated in the area of relationships, yet we still feel alone. When we’re in this position, it’s easy to wonder what’s wrong with us and to label ourselves as being out of touch or depressed, but that may not be the case. The reality is that our deepest yearning as human beings is not just to have a lot of relationships, but rather to be truly known.

Apart from the obvious things like food, water, and shelter, the greatest human need is to bond deeply with others. Another way of saying it is that our most fundamental desire is to be seen and loved. Many of us do things to make ourselves more attractive to other people — we take showers, get our hair done, learn, and make an effort to be funny or charming. However, what tends to happen when we place great emphasis on the external is we begin to wonder if anyone really knows us. When we constantly put our best foot forward, it’s easy to develop unconscious feelings of shame about the parts of our lives we are certain would be rejected if they were exposed. From there, we split the bad pieces of our identity off from the good and buy into the lie that we must be all good in order to be accepted.

Friend, the gift of being in Jesus is that you are seen, known and loved! There is nothing you have ever done or ever could do that He has not already redeemed and taken care of. Even though you have struggles, you can allow them to be illuminated by His light with an understanding that there is no condemnation. As you press into relationship with Him and with others, you can do so with the confident assurance that you are already accepted. You are never alone and you are loved completely, just the way you are! Isn’t that wonderful news?

Pastor Bobby Schuller

                                             Memory Lane!            

Back in the day at St Athanasius, we celebrated a "Welcome Sunday Pot Luck Dinner" periodically through the year. It gave new parishioners a chance to mingle with parishioners who "had been around a while." These pictures are primarily from 2016. Can it be 10 years already?