As both of my kids started school on Wednesday at Holy Spirit, I was surprised at how emotional it was to drop them off. Just to offer them a chance to have what felt like a normal day was a true blessing. Before this pandemic, celebrating what was normal seemed counterintuitive. That is to say, if you are anything like me, you took more for granted than imaginable. Having had the chance to sit with some of you in your driveway or yard, I have been reminded how much I am fed by being with you. Having a routine of dropping off and picking up kiddos brings rhythm to the day. I can actually, fairly accurately, remember what day it is. I am reminded that in unobserved normalcy, we are surrounded by the easily missed presence of our loving God.

I visited several people on their lawns this past week and it was clear after the first two that I was going to be arriving way behind on the rest of my appointments. I just couldn’t get enough of spending time with you wonderful folks. It makes me wonder what re-gathering will look like. Will we all look up on Sunday afternoon around 3:00 and realize that hours have passed? The Church are most authentically ourselves when we are together, after all. That said, I think God has us all in the palm of his hand and in God’s economy nothing good is lost. This time will pass while God’s presence, grace, and love won’t.

The novelty of watching the Houston Rockets play basketball this week came with an awareness of how abundant our choices for entertainment were a few months ago.  Sports, concerts, restaurants, coffee shops, and more were there for us to freely navigate. While there were so many venues for enjoyment, there remained one steady and constant source for meaning, comfort, assurance, and community: Church.  While so many of the sources for fun and entertainment have abated during this pandemic, church has not disappeared, even if it has been different.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we were discussing the breakdown of truth.  For any particular truth you feel like you have before you about any issue in this world, someone else could easily have any vast variety of differing accounts.  I am reminded of Pilate at the trial of Jesus asking “What is Truth” in John 18:39. Relativism is unmooring and complete uncertainty is worrisome at the least.  Earlier in John’s Gospel Jesus is trying to comfort his friends and let them know that he will go before them to prepare a place for them and Thomas says “Lord, we do not know where you are going.  How can we know the way?”  This is the famous passage where Jesus says “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”  There is a reason this is the claim carved into most crosses you will find at Camp Allen.  This is a proclamation of certainty, maybe the only true certainty that we will ever hear.  Jesus is our way.  He is our life.  Jesus is truth.

“What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.” – Romans 8:31-34

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.