I’m assuming that this means – What do we cherish about church ?
Cherish is not an easy word. We don;t tend to use it in everyday speech. It’s in the anglican wedding service. ‘To love and to cherish,’ but I can’t think of other contexts where it is regularly used.
I knew a vicar once who had a major falling out with his congregation. One of the church members said to me – ‘One of the problems with …. is that he doesn’t cherish us, and he won’t let us cherish him.’ I knew what he meant. The vicar in question was quite strident in his leadership style, and was someone it was quite hard to get alongside.
David Cassidy had a hit a long long time ago with the song ‘Cherish’.
Cherish is the word I use to describe
All the feeling that I have
Hiding here for you inside
You don’t know how many times
I wished that I had told you …
As I think about the word cherish, it seems to be to do with relationships above all. So as far as church goes, I cherish the friendships that we have made there. The people who have cared for us. The people who have made themselves vulnerable to us, so allowing us to love and care for them.
Maybe I’ll let Kool and the Gang have the last word today.
Let’s cherish every moment we have been given
The time is passing by …
Cherish the love we have, we should cherish the life we live
Cherish the love, cherish the life, cherish the love.
Five Short Words 