Good morning, church!
As we get closer to the eye of the storm here in our area – just yesterday the governor issued a recommendation for all Pennsylvanians to wear masks in public – let us begin this day (and yes, it’s a Saturday!) with a prayer:
“God, we ask that all who are affected by this virus be held in your loving care. In this time of uncertainty, help us to know what is ours to do. We know you did not cause this suffering but that you are with us in it and through it. Help us to recognize your presence in acts of kindness, in moments of silence, and in the beauty of the created world. Grant peace and protection to all of humanity for their well-being and for the benefit of the earth.” (From the Center of Action and Contemplation)
Before I forget, I’d like to send birthday wishes and congratulations to the following people who celebrate today in the intimacy of their homes and with only their closest family members around: Vincent A., Jimmy B., Shelby M., and Bryn P. April 4 is a popular one in our congregation. Be blessed, y’all!
Our council convened on Wednesday night via Zoom, mainly to review safety precautions for few staff members and core volunteers who still perform important tasks in the church building, at least from time to time. The mail gets picked up and processed, bills are being paid, donations are counted, abbreviated programs and sermons are sent to our home-bound members, things like that. Usually there is no more than one person in the building. We are also further reducing the number of people present in the sanctuary for our Live Stream worship services on Sunday morning. Tomorrow, for the Palm Sunday celebration, we will include pre-recorded music. It just makes sense to have as few people as possible in any closed room – even at “safe” distances – at this time. I will send my message from home tomorrow morning. I would like to thank Brian B., Ted R. and others for working with us on solving all the technical problems that come with the territory. Whenever you try something new and technology is involved, kinks have to be worked out. As you know I am a technological wizard (NOT), and all I can do is pray that it will work tomorrow morning. Please join us for the Live Stream, once again on Facebook Live at 10:00 a.m. We will also distribute palm branches drive-through style between 11:00 and 11:45 a.m. Please enter via 2nd Street and exit on to Montgomery. A person with safety gloves and a socially distanced dinosaur (don’t ask) will hand you your palm or palms. I can ensure you that the palms have been sitting untouched at church for weeks now. The palm distribution is just one of those little things we feel we can do to make the day special. There will also be a donation area (the miniature church) that you can drop offerings into, drive-through style.
At a time when we witness a lot of suffering, when many of us experience anxieties and get overwhelmed with somber news, let us keep in mind that suffering is and always will be part of the human condition. Thinking otherwise is wishful thinking and simply not true. Suffering is also, unsurprisingly, a universal theme in the world’s religions. We Christians emphasize it during Lent and Holy Week, which begins tomorrow. Keep in mind that this time of Lent and Holy Week is never a simple commemoration of Jesus’ death and dying. By reading the Passion texts we are all drawn into Christ’s experience that new life and resurrection come via experiences of dying and loss. It may seem very counter-intuitive, but I believe it is true and is a big reason why the cross is such an important symbol for us. I also believe we will see the truth of this principle realized as we get through this current crisis and learn from it. I wanted to share with you (again via Richard Rohr – credit to whom credit is due!) a Buddhist legend that explores suffering. “
“According to [a Buddhist] legend, there once was a woman who sought out the Buddha after losing her baby to illness. Crazy with grief, she asked him for medicine to bring her son back from the dead. He replied that he would give her this medicine if she brought him back a white mustard seed from the house of a family that had never experienced death. The woman went door to door, searching for a family untouched by the loss of a loved one. Of course, she could never find such a family. She realized that death touches everyone. And in realizing the universality of grief and death, her suffering lessened.”
Finally, please join me in prayers today for Donna L. She is one of the people on our prayer list and is currently in a Rehab Center in Quakertown. She has been battling an aggressive brain tumor. Just recently she had the tumor (mostly) removed from above her brain stem in a procedure at St. Luke’s in Bethlehem. Donna grew up in North wales (on 6th Street). As a young parent, she was very involved in our church, raising three children here. She was the Sunday school teacher for some people who still are members of our church. Donna has been through a very painful and isolating journey of sickness and rehabilitation, often spending long periods of time alone. I sent her a pizza from a Quakertown pizza place two weeks ago and she really enjoyed that. The food in the facility is not, well, let’s not get into that… But please, do keep her in your prayers, especially if you know her.
Last but not least, below are some more instructions for making face masks at home, which came to me via Anita B. The recommendations are from a Baptist Church in West Chester. I know too little about it to endorse these recommendations but I’d like all of you who are making masks to see and review it…
Be blessed and be safe! Pastor Andreas Wagner