This week.

Well, this wasn’t the way this was supposed to go.  I’m not sure what you expected from this semester but I’m willing to bet it wasn’t this.  As with any disruption, I wonder what you’re feeling, what you’re dealing with, and what you need right now.  We can still stay connected, you may always call, text, email, message us for anything you need, or if you just want to talk.  Using Zoom, we’ll continue to gather on Sundays at 6 pm and say Evening Prayer (BCP, page 115); we’ll have time each Tuesday at 6 pm for check-in, a chance, just like we do on campus, to come if you want to and share what’s going on with you.  We’ll continue our Lenten series ‘Money and Possessions’ each Thursday at 5 pm.  This isn’t the way it was supposed to go; but we can continue to connect, share, and be a community of faith with one another. Links are listed at the end of this email.

Social distancing doesn’t mean isolation but staying connected is requiring a new way of life.  Uncertainty is hard, and when we don’t know when or how life will get back to normal we begin to grieve what we’ve lost.  In one of the more important lines from our service of burial the priest (or bishop) says, “for to your faithful people, O Lord, life is changed, not ended.”  Life is indeed changed and it’s not ended.  We still need to carry on with life but in new ways, in ways that demand creativity, in ways that inspire conversation.  We need a human touch and a human voice to remind us we’re not alone; and we need to remember that God hasn’t forgotten us or abandoned us when our lives get turned upside down.

A friend recently joked to me saying, of all the congregations yours is the best suited to this new way of communication.  While you are far more tech-savvy than older generations, in the days to come I suspect you’ll miss gathering together on campus, in dorms, apartments, at your jobs, even in class.  You’ll miss the rituals of college life, and for those of you graduating, a chance to be recognized for your hard work and achievement.  This is a hard time and Jesus teaches us that in hard times we do best when we remember God is with us and we should be with one another.

I hope to see you on Tuesday, thanks to Zoom; and I hope you’ll let us know what you need, how we can help, if a prayer needs to be said, or if you just want to talk about a show you’ve seen or a book you’ve read.  Life is changed, not ended; and together, as God’s people have always done, we can move forward in trust and hope knowing we’re not alone.

–Thomas