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Ever since my first two not-so-great experiences while visiting Williamsburg, Virginia, I can't say I was overly excited about the prospect of spending a week there at the end of June.
Here's the history. A long, long time ago, I remember being in Williamsburg with two young children. I remember how much fun it was to visit Busch Gardens - everybody had a great time. But the days we spent in the historic area?! Well, it was not only crowded and very HOT, but both kids did nothing but whine and complain, "This is boring! Can we go back to the hotel and go in the pool?"
Then there was the time I once again visited the area on a bus trip with a large group of co-workers. It so happened that there was a major heat wave going on, and it was at least 108 hot, muggy degrees the entire time we were there. Needless to say, it was virtually impossible to be outside at all. And so we didn't bother.
So all of that contributed to my preconceived notions of what it would be like to spend an entire week in Williamsburg. It happened to be the best timeshare exchange I could find for that week at the last minute, and so off I went, hoping for the best.
It turned out to be a GREAT vacation. The weather was good, it wasn't crowded, there was plenty to see and do, the resort was extra nice, and I even enjoyed learning more about the history of Jamestown, Yorktown & Williamsburg. Not to mention a day trip to Virginia Beach. I'd love to go back again - maybe even next year, you never know.
So all these years I've been telling myself and everyone else that I didn't like Williamsburg because I had formed an opinion that wasn't really based on facts.
Just yesterday, I read yet another article that spoke about the perceptions of people (especially younger people) outside of the church to those of us INSIDE the church. These articles are extremely commonplace these days, and they all say the same thing. People believe we're hypocrites. They think we look down on people who are different than us; we're judgmental; we're negative; we're intolerant.
I'm of the opinion that, most of the time, opinions like these aren't really based on facts. They're based on what's been read somewhere, or on the supposed
experience of the cousin of a friend or a friend of a
friend. Sad.
But wherever those preconceived notions have come from, it's up to us to show the true face of Christianity to the world. It's up to us to show p
eople the love, grace, kindness, and goodness of Christ. If just
one person sees the light of Christ shining through us and walks aw
ay thinking that
just maybe
the Christian faith is worth exploring ... well, it will all be
worth it, won't it?
Pastor Janice
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