What do we do?
Dear First Pres SLO Family,
Grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus Messiah, God’s gift of grace and love and sacrifice, the one who makes us whole and free again. Praise God!
I mentioned on Sunday that I’m aware of our sense of loss in not being able to gather and fellowship like we used to. I feel that, too. Just having you all hum during our closing hymn on Sunday was very moving to me—I miss your voices!
On Monday I was reminded of other wounds we bear from this past year and a half. I presided at the burial of two long-term members of First Pres—John and Katie Evans. They passed away last year about three weeks apart, and only now were the family permitted to gather and say goodbye. One of the grandchildren talked about being robbed of some precious time with her grandparents because of the COVID restrictions.
That one got me. Most of you know that I lost my dad last year, and we still haven’t been able to get the extended family together for a service. I do feel robbed—of time and final conversations, and even now of being able to celebrate his life with the people who loved him.
We’re all carrying a version of this sense of loss. What do we do?
Answers come in unlikely places sometimes. Just this past Sunday, as I was getting ready to come to church, I was watching Fareed Zakaria’s program on CNN. He paused at the end for a final reflection, where he talked about how his practical responses to COVID were thrown sideways by the death of his mother, 8000 miles away in India. He spoke of the grief of watching her funeral on his laptop, and grieving so much for the loss of his mom, and his inability to be there for the service. You can watch the segment here.
His advice to all of us is to spend as much time on our personal and spiritual life, as we do to our physical life and our battle against threats like COVID. It was a wise and perceptive reflection, and I was moved by his words.
We continue to live under the restrictions imposed by the COVID pandemic. We continue to be robbed of opportunities for connection by the need to keep ourselves and each other safe. We continue to feel this sense of loss. We’ll be remembering those whom we have lost in the past year at our Kirkin’ service on October 24th.
In March of 2020 when this all started, I wrote in one of my first Midweek Reflections that we could redeem this time apart by focusing on prayer and maybe even a little Bible study on our own. We could deepen our spiritual life in meaningful ways while we were kept from filling our time in other ways. I think it’s still true (and not just because a guy on CNN agrees!). I think we still have opportunities to draw closer to God and even to each other while limiting some of our contact and behavior.
I hope you’ll still seize this opportunity, that you can turn these limits into a time of growth and understanding. Give that gift to yourself, and to this church.
In the meantime, stay safe and healthy. Blessings to you,
Pastor John
PS: The passages for upcoming Sundays are below.
October
17 Acts 6:1-7
24 Acts 7:1-53 Kirkin’ Sunday
31 Acts 7:54-8:1a Reformation Sunday
November
7 Acts 8:26-40