I wasn’t at all surprised by the extension of the physical distancing restrictions or the Bishop’s statement barring public worship through April. The handwriting was surely on the wall. But I have to say the announcements hit me hard, nevertheless. A month suddenly seems like a long time, and I’m not even homeschooling. New headlines and images arrive every day. But no gatherings. No worship together. And Easter in the midst of it. What will that be like?
I want you to know I think of you all every day. You are such a huge part of my world, and I really do feel connected to, even responsible for, all of you. I try to picture you out there in your homes. And I imagine you all in the sanctuary. And I pray for you.
As a pastor, I can repeat here the truths you’ve heard and know already—that the church is not the building and that we are the church even when scattered. Important truths. But experience speaks another truth right now, too. We ARE scattered, and each of us faces this crisis alone and as households. Each of us is coping as best we can, strangers in a strange land. Alone.
Here is our truth. We are one in the church, a glorious and beautiful mystery, and we are ones, solitary pilgrims, every journey unique. Each of us has our own questions; each of us prays or doesn’t; each of us is alone with our own thoughts in these days of COVID-19.
Human life is duality—a life shared in the world and an inward life that can be shared with no one. These days awaken our minds and spirits to both truths. So, you in your home, I in mine, we think alone together. What is important? What brings me joy? What frightens me? What do I really believe? As for me and my household … what?
This I will profess: The Holy Spirit is with you and with me, and I believe that every one of us solitary pilgrims is embraced in the grace of Jesus Christ and the love of God. Each of us is working through this crisis on our own, because that’s how it has to be. YET, I know we can find help and comfort in God AND each other, if we so choose.
We are all facing the same enemy, real but unseen, and its power is frightening. But in the midst of it all, Easter. There is no power that can overcome the love God has for you, for me, for us, or the love we have for each other.
And so, in my thoughts I will picture you, and when you think of church, please include me, too, because in all my quirky individuality, I am welcomed at Glenn Memorial, as are you, my fellow quirky soul. And when the Holy Spirit is added to you and me, we become gloriously, beautifully, us, the church of Jesus Christ. And, for that, I thank God, ESPECIALLY in these days of shared isolation.
In Christ,
Rev. Mark Westmoreland