Musings from the Ozone

The first Sunday of the month...........  Everyone seems to have survived the grueling month that has just passed.  There is something special about the first Sunday of the month at our church and in fact, it has been so, since our names were placed on the roll as pastor and wife.  I called the first Sunday special, but what is so special about the first Sunday which separates it from every other first day of the week of a month of Sundays?

Ask the little widow who has finally received her Social Security check.  There is something special to her the first Sunday when she can march up and put in her monthly tithe check. It feels good to know she has come into the flock on Sunday morning with her widow's mite.  Perhaps the Lord is looking down on her in her Sunday go-to-meeting hat and he smiles largely at her. 

But, the first Sunday of the month is much more than just the biggest tithe and offering day of the month in our church.  We are reminded that first Sunday of the month we should bring into God's house our offering for the missionaries who are carrying the gospel to the whole world.  In our church we are reminded afresh that there is a dying world out there beyond the George Washington bridge and across the Atlantic Ocean. 

I love the first Sunday of the month for lots of reasons.  When the first Sunday of January arrives, I am thankful that December is long gone and I can forget about the cakes, cookies and pies. I can forget Christmas for another year.  In February, I am so thankful that the church books are closed down for the next 12 months of perusal and attack.  In March, I am peacefully writing in my books, or finished with the snowboots and slush.  In April, I realize that there are a few warmer days;  May sunshine comes and warms us up. And so it goes; each first Sunday of the month is sort of a happy goodbye to the month that just passed and gives us new hope that a brighter and better day will be coming.