After five winters we moved south to Jacksonville and became very much part of north Florida. My congregation in Orange Park was home to many navy families, and we became integrated into the military culture and participated in many change of command, and retirement ceremonies.

I served on the several boards in Clay County and taught a Bible Class every Friday at a businessmen's breakfast at the University Club in Jacksonville. Our move to San Antonio, Texas necessitated many changes. I had to learn the history of another Republic, and the values of the Lone Star State. San Antonio was Military Town, USA, with four Air Force bases and the army's Fort Sam Houston. I had to find my way around Brooke Army Medical Center, and Wilford Hall Air Force Hospital. I had to become familiar with all the social and cultural organizations: the Order of the Alamo, the Texas Cavaliers, the Battle of Flowers Association, and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. I joined the San Antonio Rotary Club, which became the largest in the world while I was there. For fourteen years we became integrated into that city and its blend of cultures. Then we moved to Amelia Island and the process was repeated.

All of you have similar stories to tell of moving and becoming integrated in your new communities. As it is in our journey through life as the years roll by, we also find ourselves spiritually moving through various stages: quest, commitment, encounter with Christ, and then integration of what we experience and believe in a new community. After we have made the commitment to become followers of Jesus Christ, and have experienced his transforming presence, we want to integrate our faith with the rest of our lives. We do this in various ways.

First of all, we discover the value of Christian fellowship and community to support us in our faith and values, and to encourage us in facing the challenges of life. It is not good for us to live isolated lives. We need relationships. We need to belong to a family of faith. We need the opportunity church gives us to worship: to be inspired by good music and preaching, to be comforted by prayer, to be strengthened in our doubts and sorrows. We need to care for one another, and to be cared for when we need it. We have a need to give and serve beyond ourselves to meet the needs of others. Worship elevates us and gives us a glimpse of heaven and eternity. Fellowship teaches us to love one another, to be less self-centered, and to practice the fruit of the Spirit through compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

When we encounter Christ and open the door to Him in our lives, he introduces us to the rest of His family - those other children of God who become our brothers and sisters. Becoming a Christian means being adopted by our heavenly Father into a worldwide extended family of faith which we call the One, Holy, Apostolic, Catholic Church. It extends back in history as well as forward to the heavenly Communion of Saints. To be a Christian means belonging as well as believing. To try to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, on our own, apart from belonging to this family, the Body of Christ, the Bride of Christ, is to be a spiritual orphan. We need to be integrated into the local manifestation, the local branch, of that family if we are to live a full Christian life.

Wherever I have lived I had to learn the culture, the history, of that place and that people. Sometimes I had to relearn what I thought I knew. When I lived in New England the history of the American War of Independence came alive in a new way when I visited Concord and Boston. In Texas, the story of the Alamo and the Texian War of Independence, culminating in the Battle of San Jacinto, reached mythic proportions. I grew in my understanding as my children had to take Texas History in grade school.

Similarly, when I became a follower of Jesus, the Bible took on new importance. I found that reading a portion of the Bible every day became as necessary as eating my meals. I experienced a hunger and thirst for the Word of God. At this stage in my spiritual journey I found that I enjoyed Bible classes. I learned the history of Christianity. I read the stories of the saints, the martyrs, the missionaries, the heroes and heroines of the Faith. What was obscure to me before, gradually began to make sense. My pastors lent me books which I devoured. Prayer became a living conversation with God. I integrated my daily life with my walk with Christ. I prayed for strength to serve God better. I prayed for the power of the Holy Spirit to become more loving, more self-controlled, more helpful to those around me. I grew in discernment, in being able to distinguish between truth and error, between wisdom and folly. My beliefs grew deeper, less superficial, and more balanced.

All this changed my world view and purpose in life. As I became more fulfilled, and contented with the companionship of Jesus, and knowledge of the Gospel, I became a happier person. Whereas before I wanted to make a name for myself, and become a politician, I found myself wanting to help others to discover what I had found. I wanted to share the happiness and contentment that my life in Christ had brought me. I wanted others to be able to find the meaning and purpose in life that I had.

My relationships with others changed. No longer did I see others as merely the people I studied with at school, played sports with, danced with, dated, worked with, but as people made in the image of God, with destinies to be fulfilled, and as potential brothers and sisters in Christ. They were not meant to be merely strangers, or acquaintances, or even friends, or colleagues, but people for whom Christ died, that they might be forgiven, and find eternal life in Him. This meant that my attitude to them had to change as I integrated my beliefs about them into my relationships with them. I had to learn to take an interest in them, to love my neighbor as myself, to care for them, to be patient with them as I sought to serve Christ in them. None of this comes naturally to me. In fact, it goes against the grain of my upbringing, my disposition, my personality, my self-centered nature. But if I am to be an authentic Christian, I have to learn to love others, and to care for them. Only by integrating my faith into my relationships with others will I become spiritually mature, find my true self, and become a whole person in Christ.

How are you getting on with integrating your faith with your life? The Integration stage of life's journey requires the desire to learn, to grow, to deepen relationships, to reach out to others, to put on love which binds us together in perfect unity. It is a work in progress. It never ends. But its rewards are great: spiritual maturity, authenticity, true self, wholeness. It is worth all the effort.

END