One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish...................

We live in a world of numbers. We base almost everything in our lives on some type of statistic. And, though we might not personally be the one who does the count, you can rest assure that at some point most every thing in our lives has been a part of someone’s statistic. We even count in our churches. We take roll and attendance. Some churches actually pass around a “roll sheet” to be signed by everyone there. But what happens when someone’s name is missing from the list?
Are the list used to as map to visit or check in on those names that didn’t make the list?

People miss church for various reasons. And, while many of the reasons might not warrant a phone call to check on the missing person, without checking on them we may never know why they miss. What if someone is absent because they are sick? First, if we don’t call or pay a visit we might never know they are sick. We would only know that they are absent. Jesus said, “I was sick, and ye visited me” (Matthew 25:36). We are to care of our brothers and sisters, not just care when they are sitting beside us. Our Christian love is to flow outside the church walls as well as inside.

We live in a society where the “aged” population is constantly growing. Each year that population adds more and more people as advances in medicine have people living longer now than ever before. And sometimes with the ups and downs of advanced years these may be the very people whose names are absent on occasion from the church rolls, or, even less visible on a daily basis. But, yet most of us can’t find the time to make a call to check on them when they aren’t in out presence. James, wrote, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). Yet, we struggle at finding the time even when we know they have been absent a few weeks in a row.

We have all the attendances of church taken on a weekly basis. We know who is there and who isn’t, yet we seem to never be able to find the time to check and see why they were absent. In his “Holy Rule,” St. Benedict wrote, “Before and above all things, care must be taken of the sick, that they be served in very truth as
Christ is served.” Jesus said, “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40). Don’t our absent brothers and sisters deserve to be more than a Sunday morning statistic?

Until next time May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You: All Y'all!

Bobby
Bobby Cohoon
North Carolina, USA
cohoon@embarqmail.com