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"May the words of my digital device,
and the meditation of all our hearts,
be acceptable to you, O God,
our rock and our redeemer.
Amen"

Dearly Beloved,

Once again we find our selves in a time of change that threatens to overwhelm us. That just seems to be the way it is these days. And we are called to rise up from self-centeredness, to turn away from despair, to reject ambivalence and apathy, and to meet a new challenge, trusting that God is with us on the way.

We are not alone.

I believe that this generation has become complacent in many ways, but our assumption of physical presence as a necessity for close relationship is quite ridiculous. We assume rapid travel from one part of the world to another so that we can all but instantly visit with friends and family all over the planet. It hasn't always been so. Most of your parents lived in a differnt world. Some of you remember a different world. A world in which it took days, weeks, months and even years for letters to travers continents and oceans to connect two separated hearts.

Physical presence is a joy and a gift, but it is not necessary for us to be physically present to one another in order to be emotionally and spiritually present to one another. Paul demonstrates this again and again in his epistles as he wrote to those whom he loved. He expresses again and again his preference to meet face to face, but distance made this impossible. So he wrote letters to small groups of people and those small groups of poeple shared those letters with their friends, family, and neighbours (often only one or two in each community would have been able to read the letters).

At this time we are called to be emotionally and spiritual present to one another.

Make a phone call. 

Write a note.

Send a postcard, a letter, a greeting, to those you love.

Tell your loved ones you love them. 

Stop waiting for the phone to ring and reach out.

What if we spend the next several weeks of social-distancing writing love letters to each other?

Each day I will post on this blog. We will share announcements. We will share people for whom to pray. You don't need to know someone to think about them, to pray for them, and to send them loving thoughts.

I believe that if we take this time of social-distancing to be present to one another emotionally and spiritually, we will return much stronger for our time apart. Distance really can make the heart grow fonder, if we are intentional about continuing to show our love and affection for one another.

Please check the blog often and communicate it with others. Please contact the office if you need a current congregational directory and we will send you one a soon as we are able. In time, we hope to also be able to post video. We will be working on fresh communications regularly.

Love in Christ,

Rev David