Oh My

Here we are in June already.  Once upon a time, the month of graduations, weddings, and vacation plans.  Once upon a time, the month when we say the year is passing by too quickly.  2020 has turned out differently.  It’s been a year of frustrations, fears, boredom, exasperation and, most recently, depression, as we watch our idealistic republic disintegrate.
    As Christians, familiar with the histories recorded in the Old Testament, we wonder if our God has once again come to the end of His patience with His created beings, who reject the Ten Commandments, and put their trust in their own moral standards, shredding God’s laws.  It is scary to contemplate what an angry God will do or let happen to an arrogant humanity.
    As we slowly bring our society back from the government-instituted isolation because of the pandemic, we think of what we have missed during this long period of separation from all that is normal.  For most of us, that is simply being able to closely associate with those we love.  Oh yes, it’s fun to consider the possibilities of shopping and attending special events.  But it all comes back to the fact that we have more fun doing things together.  
    We have, for the most part, gone through these last few months, feeling a bit helpless as a church fellowship.  We read and hear of churches that have set up huge food banks or otherwise reached out to the community around them, and feel somewhat inadequate.  And yet, within such a small congregation, we salute those who have taken meals to others, did grocery shopping for someone, kept telephone contact within our church family, even made masks.  We’re especially grateful to Pastor Geoff, who kept the doors open every Sunday for those who desired to worship and to Isaac, who made the services ever so much more a joy by providing organ accompaniment to our hymns.
    All this sounds like it is written from the perspective of it’s all being in the past.  It is not.  We will be slowly getting back to “normal.”  We’re carefully learning to express our love to one another in person.  We hope these past months have been an opportunity for meditation on what we value most.
We hope that the glow of our Small but Mighty congregation, through our actions, has been able to illustrate how God loves His people to a community and a nation sorely in need of love.                                                Virginia