| Relationships - article by Joel Hempel
As I reviewed the ballot in anticipation of voting last week, I remembered an article I read a few years ago about George Conway, husband of Kellyanne Conway, counselor to former President Donald Trump. Don't worry; I'm not going to get political.
As anyone knows who follows politics, George Conway (a conservative Republican) tweets, talks and writes about his dislike for Mr. Trump. When the journalist asks what his wife thinks about George's raging against the man she counsels, George replies, "I don't think she likes it. However. . . ” He then went on to express pride in his wife and her accomplishments.
The last Sunday Pastor Scott preached before his stroke was the celebration of All Saints Day, which occurs every November 1st when we set aside one day to remember and honor the beloved saints in our lives who have died and gone to be with Jesus. In his message, Pastor Scott preached on transactional (uncaring) vs. non-transactional relationships. That is, how does God want us to treat other people? And especially, how do we treat the saints in our life?
A saint is not only one who has died and whose soul has gone to be with our Lord, but also one who has been made righteous by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. A saint is a sinner who is graced to believe in and trust Jesus as Savior and Lord of their life. A saint is one who imperfectly follows Jesus and serves others.
But what happens when saints are at odds with each other?
It's sad but true; in our humanity, we sometimes treat each other as if we have an impersonal, uncaring, transactional relationship. I don't know how George and Kellyanne relate to each other at home or if they live their Christian values. I do know that as I write this article, they are living apart from each other. My prayer is that they figure out how to make their relationship work. I also pray that we at Glendale continue to make our relationship work with each other so we are always glorifying God.
Relationships – marriages, friendships, families, and especially Christian brothers and sisters in community – will constantly be tested. The more time we spend together, the more aware we become of our differences – political and otherwise. Those differences can challenge our love for one another.
For the time being, our vision process has been put on hold. But there was a line in this past Sunday's Epistle lesson that speaks directly to God's vision for GLC. It was St. Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonian Christians: “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all . . .” (1 Thess. 3:12).
Loving another person – especially sacrificially, the kind of loving God wants for us – is hard work. And because we are still living this side of heaven, there will be too many times when we fail to love in a God-pleasing manner. At those times, the best we can do is repent and say, "I'm sorry. I screwed up again. Please forgive me." Why should we rush to mend broken relationships? Because it’s what saints do! | 
