I hope that you are feeling well and dealing well with this temporary new reality we must live in.
When I chose a photograph of just one person in our nave for the cover of the March newsletter, it was to be a visual reminder of Lent and our need to come before the cross of Christ. I had no idea that it would come to reflect the distancing that we are going through during the rest of March and now April.
In the past, when I have been in the nave, alone, I knew it was only temporary. Sunday would come and we would be together. Such is not the case in the COVID-19 world. While the news and the social restrictions appear to change daily, our unity in Christ remains. While we must keep following the well-publicized precautions, our unity in Christ remains. While our worry may cause great anxiety, our unity in Christ remains.
Continue to reach out to one another through the various electronic means we have. Your congregation continues to function, albeit at a reduced level. I hope you have been able to view the little worship liturgies we have been recording and posting on social media.
April 12 will come. But we will not be together in the nave raising the roof, celebrating resurrection. Easter will come. Resurrection will be celebrated. And resurrection oriented life will sustain, and will carry us to the end of this health emergency.
I’m looking ahead to that first Sunday when we are together. Whenever that day will be, we will use the time to celebrate Easter. What a day of celebration it will be. We’ll get to that day. With persistence and prayer, we’ll get there.
The peace of Christ be with you always!
Clifton D. Eshbach
Pastor