Hawaii Lutheran Church - COMMUNITY LUTHERAN CHURCH - WELS Lutheran Church in Honolulu, HI

The old man sat in the worn recliner, finishing his lunch while talking to one of the nursing aides. His eyes, with a vacant, distant gaze made the young woman sad. She had spent the last half hour with him to keep him company. Little had she expected the man to pour out a lifetime of regrets. As she took the tray, she wondered if she would feel the same when she got to his age. Would she ache at the thought of spending the best years of her life on things which she would later realize, were superficial and unimportant. Tragic was the only word to describe what she felt.

Some have many regrets, others few, but everybody has some. For all too many older Christians, a major regret in life is not having accepted Christ’s invitation to pray on a daily basis. During their busy years prayer was a chore, a ritual motivated by guilt or superstition, but rarely, if ever, a privilege, a solace, a refuge. But then the busyness ended. The activities ceased. Worse, no one needed them to do anything. And so, there was time, time to pray. And the more they prayed, the more they were blessed. In fact, it was prayer that would get them through the day. Their reaction to this unexpected blessing was bittersweet. For on the one hand they praised God for their times together, while on the other hand, they mourned it had taken them so long to experience the celebration of prayer.

Will we have the same regrets?

Worship service times: Saturday: 6:00 pm, Sunday: 9:00 am & 10:30 am.