On my trip to Stonington, Maine last year I was able to visit several of the churches in the village. One of them, the Nazarene church hosted a total of 9 of us the first morning service I attended there (not counting the kids in the basement for Sunday school). The pastor, a dear man named John Hawkins welcomed me warmly after the service and visited with me briefly.

That evening at the Lenten Service at another church in the village (they rotated the evening service from one church to another during Lent) Pastor John invited me to sit with he and his wife Falene, which I was happy to do. At the conclusion of that service we were talking again and he leaned into me to deliver what seemed a very personal message..."Love is the key. The lonliest man on earth is the man who can't or doesn't love others."

We had been talking and discussing the plight of the lost, but this message seemed somehow different from the thoughts just concluded. I couldn't help but sense a whisper from the Holy Spirit through his humble servant John, a man of passion for the poor and lost who hadn't let a slight stutter keep him from becoming a minister of the Gospel. I was a single man on a somewhat remote island about as far off-season as I it could be, maybe he assumed I was running from something - God, myself, I don't know, but the statement hit home and I know I left the church with a vague, uncertain smile on my face not knowing for sure what to say in reply.

That comment, or challenge, set the stage for one of the best months of my life as I experienced not just the place, but the people of Stonington and Deer Isle. I went to their meetings, worshiped and sang with them their choirs, visited in homes and shared meals and generally experienced love in a whole new way in a village far from home and anything, or anyone that I knew.

Being basically an introvert and homebody, I do have problems reaching beyond myself unless it is with family or close friends. Had I spent the month as I had anticipated, isolated in a cabin reading and writing or just photographing the beauty of the area, I would have missed out on so much and I would have truly experienced little.

While there are times in our lives that we need this down-time to recharge, reset priorities or seek direction - don't be closed to the Lord's leading or you might just miss out on the best time of your life - and miss the chance to make some wonderful friends. Had Rev. Hawkins not "challenged" me with those words - whether that was his intent or not - I would have seen a lot of beautiful places, but would have missed the true beauty of the region, its people.

Act out in love today!

brad