Dear One’s of St. C’s, 

As I sit down to write to you all the first thing that comes to mind is I miss you, each of you.  I miss shaking your hand or giving you a high five, and I miss being open to receiving a hug from you.  I miss the commotion of coffee hour and those moments of sitting in silence with you in the service.  I miss offering you the bread of life.

One of my teachers in seminary spoke of the way we crafted worship this way, she said, don’t think of it as worshiping the right way or the wrong way, but instead are you strengthening or weakening the symbol you are trying to communicate.  God is ever present no matter what liturgical act we participate in or do not participate in.  We do not ever have to receive the Eucharist (i.e. liturgical act) in order to receive the bread of life that comes from God.  But when we participate in this action together our faith is strengthened.  As the symbol becomes stronger our ability to see God and participate in God’s work of restoring all things to his goodness becomes more and more real.  We make the invisible grace and love of God visible and palpable, this is our call as Christians.  

This is why we have been coming together weekly and participating in the Eucharist prior to this crisis - in order to prepare our faith for this moment.  When the world feels unstable and scary.  When we worry about the health and well being of our loved ones and ourselves.  When the demands of life feel relentless or just the opposite, when we are bored and lonely.  Draw on the deep well of your faith during this time.  Draw on the memories of all of us joyfully receiving the Eucharist together, on all the times we have bowed towards each other and recognized the image of God in one another, on every time you heard a sermon and were given hope in the goodness of God and the goodness of humanity, and on what being church has taught you about how we take care of each other.  Trust that you have cultivated a deep faith and rest in the work you have already done to find God in a challenging world. 

My family has a morning and evening prayer practice that we adapted from the Book of Common Prayer.  We say this prayer together each morning. It has always brought me great comfort, but in these times more than ever.  May it bless you this morning. 

O God, whose light divides the day from the night, on this morning, drive far from us burdens that feel too heavy, incline our hearts towards hope, joy, and love, and guide our feet into the way of peace; that, having done enough while it was day, we may, when night comes, rejoice in all we are thankful for. Amen. (the original prayer is on p. 99 of the prayer book).  

With hope and peace, 

Meghan