We are living in a time that I would describe as the juxtaposition of suffering and promise: human suffering of loss, abuse and fear and God's promise of abundance, healing, justice and joy. That is why gathering together Sunday mornings is so critical in this season: so that in the midst of suffering we are reminded of God's promise, and reoriented to the vision of life and well-being that God intends for us. Our second reading this week, from Romans 12, includes Paul's laundry list of what it means to live a Christian life which Paul summarizes as: "Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good."
It is my task as your pastor and preacher to make visible to you, to the best of my abilities, what that Good is that God envisions for us, and empower us all to hold fast and make it real for us and the world. I look forward to gathering Sunday together to let the Word and Wisdom of God ground us and give us strength!
I pray that whatever you are experiencing this week, that in the midst of it all you too are able to "hold fast to what is good." And that wherever you are, you are experiencing God's love and restoration in unexpected ways.
Be safe, be well, be blessed.
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