Covid-19 Update for March 31, 2020
As we continue to watch the number of cases and deaths rise, we must take a moment to acknowledge the grief that exists alongside our anxiety. We grieve for those who have lost loved ones to complications related to COVID-19 or to other causes. With social distancing, these are difficult days to mourn. The human contact that sustains us—hugs and hands on our backs—is limited. The presence of friends and extended families is missed. Losing a loved one is always heart-breaking; but it is even more difficult in these days when our normal ways of grieving together are interrupted.
Many face economic loss. Thousands, if not millions, have experienced or will experience the loss of income and jobs. Some will lose what they have worked so hard to build in small businesses and farms. Some will forgo new ventures in uncertain days. And the market-indexed funds on which many retirees depend are unpredictable at best. Grief is a natural response to the loss of economic security.
We should also acknowledge our grief over opportunity lo
t. College seniors will not have graduation ceremonies in the May sunshine. High school seniors are missing milestone moments. Other students have lost opportunities to perform academically or athletically or artistically in ways for which they have spent long hours preparing. Marriages and other life events have been rescheduled or altered.
All of us are grieving the loss of what we might call our “normal lives.” Our routines, our work, our avocations, our worship and so much of everyday life have been completely disrupted. We wonder if anything will ever be the same again.
While I join with others in their call of hope and strength in these days; I also suggest that we need to grieve what we have lost and may yet lose. Grieving is a healthy expression of our feelings of pain and loss. To limit our mourning is to invite long-term emotional disability and spiritual immaturity. God meets us in our grief. God joins us and grieves with us. Remember, Jesus wept. Let us lament and weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. This, too, is what our faithful communion is meant to be.
One aspect over which we will grieve is our inability to be together during Holy Week. We will try to provide virtual opportunities to worship but we will not be present to one another. So, let us commit to be present with one another through the Spirit of God, who binds us together.
Each day of next week at noon, staff will post a devotion for the day. We will also post a guide for sharing communion at home for Maundy Thursday. We will live stream our Good Friday service at Noon on Friday and our celebration of the Resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday at 11AM. Of course both services will be available as recorded video online and by DVD.
While we mourn the death of many things that are meaningful in our lives, we know that there is a promise of resurrection to come. For that, we wait with hope-baited breath.
Blessings,
Pastor Monty Stallins
