It’s been a typical spring season in many ways, and many rain showers bring more flowers, we hope. Our crab apple trees were blooming, and one of the rain showers produced a beautiful horizon-to-horizon rainbow. But the coronavirus remains steadily on our minds as the most vivid threat of death to many, especially the older and the more susceptible with other medical conditions.
As God renews the Earth in our hemisphere with growing-sprouting plants, and less pollution, we look ahead to a time when the coronavirus is “under control” from herd immunity and vaccines. Our house of worship has been meeting online, especially working hard just to make sure that those who need assistance “going online” can do so to see and participate in the services. We’re just deciding what we can and can’t do to welcome people back to in-person worship and to maintain an online presence for those who can’t safely worship in person. We’ve found we reach a wider audience in the community with our regular online services.
We know our first ministry is to the most vulnerable among us. We’re looking hard, as many businesses and organizations are, to understand and carry out the actions needed to protect our most vulnerable as we arrange to gather again in person. We know that some will not be able to come back until a vaccine is widely available.
I’ve been especially concerned about those isolated individually. Their separation from anyone can lead to depression, so I and other folks have been calling everyone regularly to see how they’re doing and if there’s anything we can get for them. I’ve heard from many how appreciative those locked down with no one else are for those calls. Call your neighbors.
As much as my wife and I have been isolated, we’ve had a chance or two to see our children and grandchildren, albeit at a distance. The grandchildren recently sat out on the front lawn at our house to have a picnic while we “joined” them in the picnic from the porch. We’ve also chatted with our children in the driveway or with neighbors while practicing social distancing.
Our hope lies in the knowledge that God loves us, has plans for us, and is looking for us to achieve our full potential as human beings. This means we must strive for the greater good through thought, word and deed, and by learning more about God’s will for us. God’s love is like God’s grace — it’s never-ending. It has no spigot, no “faucet” to turn off and on.
This is our hope. God will provide the means for us to have a better understanding of this world and the challenges it presents. As we learn more about this virus and the next, we find a way to live in love. We love God and love our neighbor as we love ourself.
Blessings of the season of Easter as we approach Ascension Day on Thursday, May 21, Pentecost on May 31, and Trinity Sunday on June 7 — three of the seven Principal worship services of the Episcopal Church year.
