Over the past several weeks, I’ve been participating in our Tuesday noonday prayer service over Zoom. It’s usually a small group of us, with Sarah Conner leading the brief service and reading a reflection from an author from her collection of favorite books. I’m glad to have it as a new practice. Oftentimes I don’t recall the specific author or the book, but the essence of the reflection will stay with me.
This week the reflection was from a woman who spent some time in an Amish community. She wrote how her time in this community helped her appreciate work being done in the moment, not as an task to be crossed off of a to-do list so that the next item could be taken on, but rather as an opportunity to be more mindful and open to a deeper understanding of God’s presence. There is something quite appealing to me about this concept. On one hand it feels as though life has become so much more complicated for us, as we individually and collectively figure out how to emerge from our extended period of lockdown into something new, albeit not quite normal. On the other hand, perhaps it is an opportunity to stop, reflect, pray and wonder who God is calling us to be – both individually and collectively, as we go from one task to the next.
During Miriam’s online retirement celebration, I noticed a shift – the Zoom platform enabled us to gather, see, pray, celebrate, laugh, and cry as a church in a way I hadn’t experienced since before the pandemic. Surely God was present in these moments as we thanked our friend and pastor for her years of loving service to us. I believe we were being called collectively in community to that moment – it felt like a holy occasion.
Our summer Holy Conversations series, focusing on examining systemic racism, is another example of an opportunity to pause and reflect, both as individuals and as a community, in the midst of so much uncertainty. I recognize that while we may be perceived by many as a liberal leaning parish, that does not necessarily reflect our reality. In reality, we represent many different experiences, perspectives, and beliefs – and these are not always in harmony. However, we are all children of God, and that is what unites us as a community of faith. Indeed, throughout our parish history, we have been at the forefront of discussing and discerning the impact of many issues facing our church and society; war, gender, sexual orientation, immigration, and the #metoo movement are some examples. I believe our history of commitment to examining these issues is worthy of celebration. That does not mean that these conversations were any less challenging at the time they were happening. We will have our disagreements and differences (all families and communities do), but our baptismal covenant calls us – individually and collectively, to “seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves”, and to “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being”. And we will, with God’s Help!
Faithfully,
Dave McSweeney, warden
