While I would usually be more specific, time is strange right now, so I will just say…A while back, I was listening to Sarah’s podcast (The Mockingcast – mbird.com) and David, one of her cohosts said that they had gotten a lot of response that people wanted to hear them talk about something other than COVID-19. So, they did a whole show on Weird Al which turned out to be amazing!

It seems like everything I write or speak about has to do with either the many facets of our current situation or response to questions about when church will return (which with the current Houston numbers won’t be very soon per Diocesan requirement). So, while I am no expert on Weird Al, I will say that I have become newly decent at a few things.

Grace and Peace be with you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

To say that we are in a time of uncertainty would be not only repetitive, but an understatement. Many of you have reached out to me to say how much you miss church. You have shared that you had no idea how much you took for granted being able to attend worship in a pew. I understand and agree. Many of you have reached out to ask when we will be able to return to worship. Our staff and vestry have been preparing for how this may happen. Thank you to all who filled out the survey, it was most helpful.

At this point, I write to share that we have submitted our plan for returning to in-person worship to the diocese. Our timeline will be known when we receive response from the diocese. For now, we are doing all we can to prepare to offer in-person worship in as safe a way as will be possible. We will share the adaptations necessary for us to worship together once we get final approval.

Some of my colleagues have articulated this moment of Covid, economy, and racial tension as a moment in which it appears that the world is falling apart. Others have voiced hope that things will be made new so that all can live and prosper in this land of the free.

Perspective is an interesting thing and it appears that picking sides is quite in vogue and has been for a long while (maybe forever, wasn’t that what Adam and Eve did in the Garden?). We are either for or against all kinds of things that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Further, disputable details (did the can say “tear gas” on the side or was it just a chemical that functioned like tear gas?) are the commodity we use to count oneself as more correct or righteous than others. I have found it to be far too easy to be pulled into this milieu, and I can share that it is not life giving.

I wonder what this would look like when we consider Jesus dying for our sins. Do I look for technicalities? Do I say to myself, “Well, maybe it wasn’t a spear that pierced his side, but instead a sharp stick?” or, “I do a lot of things well, so maybe I’m not so sinful that I need to be completely saved, but just need a little hand to pull me up to the worthiness necessary for heaven.” Neither, of course, are the point. The point is the comfort of having been saved for eternity by the God who made us and loves us infinitely.

I don’t think I am going out on a limb when I point out that time is a little strange right now. Thank God for church that reminds us that it is Sunday and demarcates one week from the next! Summer slipped up on us in a similarly indistinct manner this past week as school wound down and blow up pools were filled in back yards.

With mostly limited fanfare, my kids finished the school year and started a not dissimilar summer routine. We have all made intentional efforts to congratulate our children and teenagers who experienced significant life transitions in this unusual time. That said, while I would liken most years’ shift into summer like a swift moving river emptying into a vast still body of water, this year seems to be more like a river becoming slowly wider and slower in an almost imperceptible transition. Not even the weather seems to have noticed that it is now supposed to be summer (seriously, go for a walk, it is beautiful outside!).

Grace and Peace be with you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

This week brought meetings with our Vestry, our school’s Board of Directors, both finance committees and our staff meeting. Through it all (even with the eye fatigue that comes from Zoom meetings), I have been encouraged to see the Christian optimism and care at work in our leadership. Everyone is onboard praying, thinking, imagining, and double-checking the details that will be involved with the gradual process of moving back to worshipping together in person. Hopefully, you received the survey yesterday that will help us get a better sense of your feelings about such a transition.

I spoke with Bishop Fisher this week.  He was scheduled to join us for Pentecost on May 31, something all our confirmands and those who want to join Holy Spirit have been excited about for some time.  Unfortunately, we won’t yet be back in person, but I am excited to share that he will still be our preacher for that day!  In the adult Confirmation/Reception class I explained that the hat a bishop wears is called a Mitre.  Its unique shape with two points ascending is meant to represent the flames of the fire that rested on the apostles when the Holy Spirit moved through the community giving birth to the church in Acts chapter 2. 

I arrived home this afternoon after preparing all the details for this coming Sunday morning, to my kids who wanted to make me lunch.  It took me a second to "be a good sport" in the face of a desired gift of kindness, but the real gift came with lunch.  As a clergy dad, I try to keep many of the details of my kiddos' life somewhat private.  It isn't their fault that their dad is a somewhat public person and every child should have some control over what people know about their process of growing up.  But, I can't help but share that when I got the drawing of my daughter and me and opened it to find out that I'm perceived to be sweeter than a cupcake, I was pulled right back into remembering the most important part of what I am doing right now.  I am doing everything that I can within reason to care for all of you.  What is different about my family is that I get to do so for them in person and almost all the time right now which means their reality of staying at home in the time of quarantine is deeply influenced by how we are living together.  The beauty of being reminded by my daughter that this is not a one way street of Sarah and I taking care of our kids warmed my heart beyond description. 

Grace and peace be with you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I pray this Spirit Shot finds you doing well and taking care of yourself. 

I have been seeing some pictures of your Easter Lilies starting to emerge from the ground.  We at the rectory are holding our breath in hopes that I didn't plant ours too deeply and that our front yard gets enough sun!  Either way, Happy Easter!  It has also been an exciting week as welcomed new life in the way of two new babies in our church family!  Congratulations to the Salazars and the Lesters!