(Each Saturday, a faith leader offers a personal perspective in this space. To become part of this series, email religion@recorder.com)
What a time this is! These pandemics (Covid-19 and systemic racism) are touching all of us in ways that none of us could ever have expected. Many people feel compelled to look into the future for end dates to troubling events. Not me! My imagination is too limited, and the future is too open-ended. What I am good for is turning my mind and heart toward the Divine Reality that holds us together as we endure and walk forward. This Divine Reality is with us on the unexpected path of a worldwide virus and on this inescapable reality of racism, writ large in our country and across the world.
Most of our Franklin County houses of worship buildings are closed as one way of faithfully keeping our communities safe from the spread of the virus. Yet the work of the church is ongoing. We are still connected to what I call “The Love That Walks the Earth” and our mission is still the same; to share the Good News of God’s presence here on earth “as it is in heaven.”
One sign of that sharing is these ongoing Faith Matters columns. In my ministry in Shelburne Falls, I am sharing daily prayers with the public via email and Facebook postings. We are offering public YouTube worship services on our website and on our local Falls Cable television and on our church’s YouTube channel. Our garden is open to the fresh air and welcoming for anyone to come through and enjoy the summer blooms. We are also hosting a virtual coffee hour discussion later this month to talk honestly about white privilege and how that reality impacts our ability to face and join in overcoming systemic racism.
There are two Gospel messages on my mind this week. The first is Jesus saying, “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me.” The second is a follow-up teaching. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Both of these messages remind me that we are not alone in these hard times. When we welcome each other, including welcoming our failings and fears, we are asking the Love That Walks the Earth to connect us in love and justice. These teachings speak truthfully about the weight of both of these pandemics and how tired and worn many of us are. Turning our attention toward God and toward each other at the same time gives us the rest that we need from our hubris of thinking that we are holding the world in our hands. In fact, we are yoked with something that includes and is larger than us.
The yoke is the Divine Reality; what the Rev. Dr Martin Luther King called “the inescapable network of mutuality… Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
We are physically distancing from one another, but we should not, and cannot, socially distance. We should not, and cannot, spiritually distance. We need each other and that which binds us together now more than ever. We are weary, angry and fearful. And we are inescapably connected.
I am grateful for all these connections. They keep me honest and hopeful and faithful. So thank you everyone for keeping the door to your hearts open even when our physical doors are closed. It makes all the difference.
About Trinity Church
Trinity Church is a fully accessible, open and affirming (ONA) ecumenical congregation in the village of Shelburne Falls. We are united with the United Church of Christ, the American Baptist Church, the Episcopal Church, and the United Methodist Church denominations. We are known for our gracious welcome, our free Friday community dinners, our historic building and garden and the green on Main and Water streets, location of the Farmers Market. Our church building is closed at this time due to the pandemic and we look forward to once again hosting dinners, weekly AA meetings, a community parent/child playgroup, Tai Chi classes and the Wednesday free community clothes closet at the Cowell Gymnasium. Presently, our Sunday YouTube services and other information can be found on our church website: TrinityShelburneFalls.org. Contact us! 413-625-2341. trinitychrch@gmail.com.