The Eclectic Evangelical-Arlene Bridges Samuels : Life's Broken Pieces

Our small Anglican church hosts a tent each Saturday morning at our local farmer’s market where we offer a free cup of delicious Rwandan coffee to shoppers. It’s a way for us to introduce our ministry work with Rwandan coffee farmers. Each week located next to us is a beautiful collection of pottery for sale. Not only is the pottery for sale but a potter actually makes pottery right there in the tent.

One recent Saturday our pastor was serving coffee from our tent when he heard a crash. Looking to his right, he saw that one of their display tables had crashed. The artisan pottery lay scattered on the ground in hundreds of broken pieces of all sizes and colors. Imagine what the potter felt as she looked at the scene.

Our pastor and other vendors rushed to help. They carefully picked up each piece doing their best to match pieces and pile the broken shards together. Yet, it would be impossible to make each bowl or cup or plate whole again. As our pastor related the story he went on to say that he asked the potter for some of the broken pieces. I like the idea he suggested that our small church might symbolically create something out of the brokenness. To create something new. It reminded me that fresh beauty can come from brokenness.

Life is sometimes like what the potter experienced. A crash, an unexpected collapse, a broken relationship, broken dreams. Breakage of all kinds. It’s in these times that help and friendship are so necessary from a stranger or a friend. The help and concern of others is a gift from God that I have gratefully experienced in the shattering events of my own life.

While the potter's crashing table and broken pieces were public, sometimes we hide life’s brokenness hoping no one will notice. Hiding our hurts though creates a recipe for isolation. Sometimes we must press through and find a trusted friend to help us, if possible, put the pieces together again. The potter was so grateful for the help and concern expressed last weekend. After she rebuilds, she will set up her tent again and use her hands to create beautiful objects.

And that’s what we must do in brokenness. Use the brokenness in our own lives to help others. And draw from God’s comfort accepting the help from others in our own times of need. We must spin the potter’s wheel of life once again to live another day in the reality of God’s mercy and grace.

#GodReshapesYourBrokenPieces

A Tapestry of Churches

A splendid tapestry of churches has ripened my faith with fruit from many good trees; as a missionary with Mercy Ships in a crew I describe as a "Christian United Nations," and also living in Switzerland and Romania-plus moving around the United States.

Growing up, my Southern Baptist church laid my foundation built with singing the great hymns of the church, where to locate books of the Bible, and scripture memory. Through my youth group, I encountered the Lord in a personal way on July 31, 1963.

Presbyterians fed me at a buffet of Protestant theologians especially my favorite one, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and emphasized God’s sovereignty.

In The Episcopal Church, I waded into two different streams, one liturgical and the other charismatic. In the liturgical "high" Episcopal church, I feasted at the Eucharist each week and navigated the ups and downs of kneeling. In the charismatic Episcopal church, I connected more deeply with the Holy Spirit, finding freedom to raise my hands in joyful worship. As a member of a black church on then-small Hilton Head Island, the pastor and choir fed me with vibrant songs and eloquent sermons.

Living in Switzerland, we enjoyed worshipping with other ex-pats in the Church of Scotland. During our eight years with Mercy Ships, the world's largest private Christian hospital ship, we sailed the seas with a crew from 35 nations-among them South Sea Islanders who introduced us to their lovely, worshipful dances. On the mission field living in Romania, my senses delighted in the Romanian Orthodox Church replete with incense and gilded, intricate altars.

In a non-denominational church with contemporary music, I engaged with believers from varied church backgrounds and joined a small group. At the Church of God, I worshipped in a Pentecostal setting in a distinctly pro-Israel denomination that displayed the American and Israeli flags. Belongling to a small Anglican church I relished liturgy, weekly Eucharist, missions outreach to Rwanda, and acoustic guitars.

Transferring from small Anglican to big Baptist, I have reconnected with my chidlhood biblical roots where I feast on hymns sung by an outstanding choir and orchestra, an excellent Sunday School class, bible-focused sermons, and a prolific domestic and international missions focus. Last but not least, the Jewish community and expert Hebraic roots teachers have opened a door of deeper understanding that Judaism nurtured Christianity in an ancient cradle rich with commandments, festivals, wisdom, poetry, patriarchs, prophets, and Older and New Testaments. Significantly, learning more about Jewish culture and Christianity's Jewish roots has deepened a richer relationship with my Savior, a Jewish Rabbi. I've received an extraordinary gift as a non-Jew grafted into the branches of the ancient Jewish tree connecting me to Israel, my spiritual homeland. .

I invite you to walk with me through a lifetime of adventures reflecting a tapestry of faith that I hope will encourage you in your journey to discover extraordinary beauty and limitless fulfillment of our Christian faith.

In Him we hope, Arlene

Life's Broken Pieces

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