FAITH FOR TODAY: Possibilities

Are you feeling anxious? Wondering when things will get back to normal, and when the things we loved about life will resume?

Visiting, gathering, travelling, they are all part of our lives, on hold. I think we all feel a little of this. This time of restrictions has shone a light on the things we really value, at the same time a helping us all see the cracks in our systems and in our lifestyle. Like the moment we realize that a particular diagnosis will change life as we knew it, perhaps we realize now that we will never really return to the lives we knew. That is the always the way with life. We cannot go back. We can remember fondly and perhaps inaccurately, but we cannot go back. Life will never be what it was. For some that will be depressing, but for others, there will be the window of opportunity that never would have been.

Had it not been a crazy week, it had been my plan to take in part of a digital conference called “text in church”. It is all about reaching an audience for whom the traditional church sanctuary, at this particular point in time, has no appeal. It is also about morphing the ways we communicate. Writing blogs, and using social media to connect with people gives us an expanded potential reach. Early in the days of the pandemic, churches all over the continent were reporting much higher numbers than ever, of folks who tuned in to the Sunday morning service, many on Monday evening. Making time for a spiritual connection became important, perhaps more than the sacred hour of Sunday morning. Hearing a message of hope and feeling a sense of connection is something people realized they really needed.

I admit, I’m anxious too. I’ve loved the connection to the community through use of the various social media and virtual possibilities, but I miss the handshakes, the hugs, the little tidbits of information people offer at the door. I miss coffee and muffins and kids on the church steps. I miss the choir singing and the sense that we are in it together. Then I remember we are in this together. If I am missing those things, perhaps others are as well.

At the end of these restrictions, we may be even more ready to hear the ancient stories preserved in scripture brought to life for us. The journey through lent reminds us that even Jesus took time alone, unsure of what awaited the end of the time in the wilderness. We know we will not go back, but we will go through, and we do not travel alone. The spirit that accompanied Jesus, is with us too. A faith for today reminds us that though some things do change, the grace and peace of Christ is with us, always.