Dear One’s of St. C’s, 

How are you doing?  I have come to greatly dislike this question and yet my deep desire is to know the answer to this question from each and everyone of you.  I have trouble really locating how I am doing because so much of life, in an almost eerie way, is the same. And yet, we are all feeling the grief of so many things being different.  I miss seeing you all are on Sunday mornings, meeting up with a friend for tea, walking by a person and not backing away, putting my groceries away without fear, hearing my husband cough without becoming worried, the list goes on and on.  Currently, our lives feel much the same and yet everything is different. 

And then last week we learned that even when we can meet in person for worship we must remain 6 feet a part, wear masks, and not sing together.  This is not the re-entry many of us were imagining.  The Diocese has put out a very detailed guide to gathering in person that I encourage you to check out by clicking here.  It is sobering, but I think important because it is not just a guide to re-opening our church it is also a guide to imagining what life is going to look like until there is either a vaccine or a proven medication that helps people to recover from COVID-19.  

This is a hard pill to swallow.  There is so much grief.  Although, this is hard I do have deep hope that we are going to find a way to be together safely even if it is different than life before.  It was not long ago that seeing someone in a mask made me cry because this new reality made me so sad.  And now when I see someone wearing a mask, I feel joy and understand this to be an act of love.  This stranger is offering me a gift, loving me as they love themselves.  It is one of our deepest calls as Christians, to love each other as we love ourselves and now we have a very tangible way to do this. For me it is a similar act as we bow towards each other in church.  It is an honoring of one another and the image of God that we all carry. 

I have hope that faithfully and lovingly we will find new ways to be safe together.  It is not the joyous party with hugging and home cooked meals that I had imagined in my mind.  It will still require sacrifice.  But each week we have more clarity on what that might look like.  More and more is coming out about the safety of the outdoors and the increased safety of the indoors if everyone wears a mask.  We are going to find new ways to stay connected, stay church, and take care of each other.  And, I have a feeling we are going to learn even more about God’s faithfulness and love and how to bring that love into this world.  I am so grateful to be on this journey with all of you. 

May there be peace upon your homes, 

Meghan