Pastor's Page

 

For the past month or so, we’ve been doing a series called Beguiled by Beauty. Based on an upcoming book by Dr. Wendy Farley, we’ve looked at how we are loved  by God: 

*That we have to water ourselves to be able to water other life.

*That our essence is warmed by God’s presence, and we are therefore to offer that warmth to others.

*That there is beauty in the imperfections of life and we can offer grace for those imperfections.

*That creation and our Creator are full of mystery; the more we know, the more we realize we don’t know. Wonder and awe lead to the care of creation.

*That everyone, including each of us, is beautiful in the eyes of our Beloved Creator.

*And this week, we’ll remember that a contemplative life can prepare us to become instruments of God’s Goodness. 

Two things are happening right now that can actually be great opportunities to more fully live out what we have learned: COVID and Racism. Racism has come to the forefront and continues to show that it is an issue across our nation, and around the world. Sitting back and being quiet when others are espousing racist ideologies or defending racist  policies is no longer an option. Our racism study on Sunday mornings has been going well, so we will be offering the same study on ZOOM on Monday nights at 7pm, starting August 3rd. The Meeting ID is 835 5177 5828 and the passcode is 528768. Let me know if you’d like more information.

COVID-19 has hit many people hard, and not in the exact same ways. For some of us, our greatest worry is passing it on to others. For others, getting it in the first place is the scary part.

So we do what we can. Masks seem to be stopping the spread. The droplets can go 6 ft with normal breathing, but when we project (like with singing) or when we sneeze or cough, those droplets go further. And air conditioning recirculates the air and all of those droplets instead of dispersing them like when we’re outside. The longer we are together, the more particles are recirculated.

We cannot live in fear. And we cannot stay isolated forever. But we can wear masks. We can keep our distance with air hugs and actually hugging only those few who are part of our quarantine group at the time. And we can wash our hands regularly and use hand sanitizer, protecting ourselves as well as others.

So when we are able to worship together inside, we will be asking you to please wear your mask. We will have disposable masks available if you forget yours or don’t have one. If you need to take it off, please feel free to slip outside at any time during the service to take a break and remove it. 

Wearing a mask and learning together about racism are two ways that we can continue the life of Contemplation we’ve learned a little about as we see the beauty of all who have been created in God’s Divine image and better extend the love of Christ to all we encounter.

 Blessings and Peace, 

~Pastor Annie

Pastor Annie McMillan