Pastor's Pondering - July 5th, 2020

Dear friends - So it's July. And for the 10th, or maybe 100th? For the millionth? time, I'm surprised by how surprised I am with how long this new way of life is carrying on. I suspect I'm not alone. Like the Psalmist, we too wonder, "How long, O Lord?"  A colleague recently referenced an article in the Praxis Journal from (way back in) March that has been carrying her and the congregation she serves through with some very helpful processing.  A brief summary is to look at this situation from many aspects - like a sudden blizzard, which starts the winter, which is the beginning of an ice age. We very much made many quick adjustments in the blizzard time. We shifted to YouTube worship, we zoomed all our fellowship gatherings, we updated the congregation as we could. But it turns out that blizzard was the beginning of a very long winter - an entire season of time, which is where we find ourselves now. And it is promising, as the article suggests, to be the beginning of an ice age. Well, maybe not 300 years of Covid-19 - closer to 12-18 months than we had thought it would be - an era, so to speak.  While we're continuing to have the same call for who we are called to be (growing as disciples of Christ and experiencing God's love) along with the same call of what we are called to do (sharing that love with others), how we are called to do it is continually shifting. There is little chance we will be the same people we were before Covid-19 - so how do we want to emerge from this time? Please be in prayer for the leadership as we seek to adjust, adapt, and plan for what is looking more like a new era than simply a short-term blizzard. May God grant us wisdom, flexibility, and loving kindness in the process.  Grace and peace, Jess