As we have entered our 5th month of limitations on where we can go and the sorts of things we can do together, including church, this period continues to grow more difficult. It could in part be a daily heat index above 100 degrees. It could be the news this week that schools will look very different in the fall. It could just be that as we were about to re-open for in person worship in some form, we had to put everything on hold again. This certainly seems to be a season of trying to expect the unexpected. Whatever your daily life looks like, it is probably a bit different than what we would have considered normal a few months ago.

As I worry about those in our community who have been personally affected by COVID-19, I continue to pray that God will cover us with His care and comfort. As we hold fast to the course ahead together, I pray that God will plant in our hearts the seed of hope and encourage us to know that this will pass. As it gets ever more difficult to provide worship for you virtually rather than seeing your smiling faces and offering you tangible relief and promise at the altar rail, I pray that God will give us all the patience needed to imagine this time as it will be in retrospect.

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

In a conversation with John Pitts, he shared an idea to offer front yard, socially distanced, meet ups. It would give us a chance to see your wonderful (and masked) faces. I could hear a desire to see you in John’s voice and felt my heart jump as I imagined this possibility. I think his idea came out of our hope to see you as much as our desire to be there for you. In saying so, I am reminded of our Good Shepherd who seeks out the one lost and lonely sheep. Our desire for connection is rooted in the relational image of the one who created us. God not only desires to care for us, but also desires to be with us.

Rooted in our loving God, our clergy and staff teams have been touching base regularly to pray and think about ways that we can care for you in this time. We continue to pray for you by name daily and our staff is attempting to reach out to you by phone. I’ve even had the chance to pray with some of you at your home as you leave to go to the hospital for surgery. We want to be here for you, so please let us know if you need anything. Especially let us know if you are sick so we can connect with you.

Hope, suffering, and acknowledgement are like three connected sides of a triangle in how they relate to our faith. I often discuss with folks who are new to church that we live and find meaning in the tension. We know things are hard and yet we know God loves us and will redeem all things. We know we have been given the promise of life eternal and forgiveness of sin and yet we still live in this imperfect world. We know we will make it through this pandemic, but it is hard and we can’t help but acknowledge that.

This Sunday would have brought our 6th annual Parish Pops and Picnic gathering, a favorite of mine. We would have gathered in our church for the organ concert (even better now with the acoustics of the newly renovated nave!) and afterwards grilled burgers, played in sprinklers, and enjoyed each other’s deserts and sides. Our staff and leadership have been trying to offer our community moments of respite and relief, and we have had some amazing things come of out of this time, but I will miss getting to spend time with you this Sunday evening. It is good to acknowledge that. That said, I know that my redeemer lives and so I have hope.

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.