Anonymous (A Personal Story)

During the past year I sought anonymity while I worshiped. I wasn’t rejecting the church where I belonged, nor were they rejecting me. I wanted to be where few might know I was ill with depression, and no one would have expectations of me.

I succeeded in finding anonymity—sort of.

But God kept finding me . . .

In song 
“My life is hid with Christ on high.”

“My name is graven on his hand.”

God is so close to me.

In the sermons
In a message on Jacob’s experiencing God’s glory with the angel ladder, I wondered where glory was in my depression. Christ through the Word found me. I wrote in my journal: “My depression lifting is a burst of glory that makes the colors brighter. But even in the deepest darkness, God’s glory was present because Christ was with me.”

In November Pastor Jack preached: “You must listen to the voice of creation, to find your purpose in it.” And he said, “You praise God by being fully alive to the presence of God in your life.” In the midst of a deep depression, I wrote: “Depression has robbed me of my sense of purpose in creation and my purpose in life.”

Each week I received a Word of grace that I could cling to.

In the circle of faith
Each week someone next to me said, “The body of Christ for you. The blood of Christ for you.”

Thanks be to God. Hallelujah!

I thought each week that I was anonymous. But each week God found me, claimed me, challenged me and comforted me.

My name is Child of God. I am baptized as CKH.