Dear Friends,
One day, sitting at my desk in school, I was asked through a note if I had “AOL.” My brain searched to understand what those three letters represented, but I could not come up with anything. I inquired, back through the note, what is “AOL”? The answer… internet. The obvious answer is that I didn’t have AOL and had no idea why I would need the internet, email, or anything related to it. Fast forward two and a half decades and I find myself completely dependent upon the internet and everything connected to it (as I email this article to Claudia for print).
Two and a half decades ago functioning in a pandemic would have been dramatically different. No online school, work or social connection options would have been available. No online ordering of groceries, meals or Christmas presents. No video phone calls to keep families connected through Zoom and social media. Isoletion would have been even more severe than it has felt. As much as we bemoan our dependence on devices and web-based applications, it is the web that is helping to hold us together during one of the most disrupted years in a long time. That and the blessed gift of the Holy Spirit.
And no means for worship, Bible study and Sunday school. We could look back and ask ourselves how we would have done things differently, had we known a year ago what we would be facing, but looking back is not nearly as advantageous as looking forward.
2021 is a new year, thanks be to God! This will be the year that we move back from screens as our connection to in person connection. This will be the year that we leave our homes and return to school, work and back into the church buildings. The difference as we go back, is that we will not take for granted the opportunities to see each other face to face. We won’t be so reluctant to get together, to spend time together and to relish the moments that we have. This year everything changes for the better. Better because of one another. Better because God showed us the strength of faith and fortitude. Better because we have learned we are resilient, flexible and patient. Better because we endured 2020 and found the other side of it.
Friends, let us ready ourselves for what is before us. Let us press on towards the goal of a safe return to the people and places that we love, for God is getting ready to bring us out of exile and back into the promised land.
I for one cannot wait to safely hug you all and be together, but for now, I will see you in Sunday online worship, in Zoom Bible studies and book groups, in the Friday Feast pick up line and during my favorite day of the month, drive-thru Communion. Be safe…be blessed…and be loved by the Lord your God.
Blessings, Pastor Stacy