From Last February, As Winter Approaches

We have canceled Sunday activities at church for tomorrow

but you won't cancel worship, will you?

For coming safely through a storm,

For making safe choices about travel,

and about shoveling,

For making caring choices about checking in with neighbors,

and making sure you drink enough water.

For those who are in distress,

from cold,

from injury,

and any other kind of danger.

Holy One, in your loving mercy, Hear our prayer!

For throwing snow at your brother on a snowy deck,

For working side by side on a big task,

For having something special like cookies in the oven,

For the gladness of neighbors,

For the power of the plow, the blower, and the shovel,

For having prepared,

For laughing with delight at the beauty of this creation,

this new world,

And for all angels, in balaclavas, in weather centers, and in the snow,

Holy One, with joyful hearts, We give you thanks!

Despair

Despair.

There is a lot of despair in the Bible, in the history of our faith, in the way churches often fail to grow healthier, in the lives of those who find their way to church as well as the lives of those who don't.  It is here, in this space of despair that the church and our faith has the greatest potential.  It is in the context of despair that so much of our worship and our sacred texts can speak so clearly and usefully.

The core assertion of our faith is that we are not alone, that God is with us.  

We gather as a congregation because when we sit shoulder to shoulder and face to face we restore ourselves to the family of God.  It is here, being church, that we restore ourselves in the face of despair.  That's why our gathering together is so essential to the possibilities of life.  Together, we can face that which causes despair and that which is unknown.  Bound together as a congregation, we can find the faith and the courage that we're going to need when we leave and head out to tackle the issues of our lives and our world.

God is with us, beloved!  God has always been with us!  You and I, we can draw strength from God through the process of drawing strength from each other.  Consider these words, written by Shirley Erena Murray, sung so recently by all of us together:

Find the room for hope to enter,

Find the place where we are freed:

Clear the chaos and the clutter,

Clear our eyes, that we can see

All the things that really matter, ...

Peace and Blessing,

Brad