The second week of social distancing went better than the first. Perhaps because instead of wondering what would be taken away from us that day, the governor gave us some things that probably should have been on the original list but were not, most notably bicycle repair and gardening shops. Felt uplifting to have something returned to us.
Something else that is uplifting is being able to worship. Churches have been scrambling to figure out how to change their way of worshiping to fit social distancing. Though it is only 10:15 am, I am participating in my third worship service today, and anticipating worshiping again tonight at 5 pm with my usual worshipers.
My first service of the day was at The American Church in Paris, where I worshiped as a college student. It was very, very well done. The staff moved around the sanctuary, which is a tourist destination on a normal day. The pastor preached about Lazarus being raised from the dead. It was lectionary. My first thought, was "uh oh, how many times am I going to hear this same scripture today?" Fortunately only one more time.
Lectionary means this scripture was chosen when the greater church mapped out their list of what scriptures are read each week. There is a three year cycle: Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John is read and preached on during every holiday, the other three gospels rotate. I was a Presbyterian for many years before I ever heard of this, so I'll assume this is new information for at least a few people reading my blog.
What was cool about the Lazarus story is the preacher reminded us Jesus took two days to visit his best friends. Martha yells at him for taking so long -- if only he had gotten there sooner, he could have saved their brother. Yeah, no pressure. Jesus mourned the loss of his friend, even though he knew he would be bringing him back to life.
The message being that Jesus (God) works on His time. As we are in a time of exile wondering when the Corona virus quarantines will be over, I have to remind myself they'll be over in God's time and not in mine. It stinks, but here we are.
After the service, the organist (who was the organist when I worshiped there in the early 1990s) gave a docent tour. Let me back up, each week there are docent-led tours after worship because the church is also a tourist destination. Fred, the organist, lives at the church (or at least he used to when I worshiped there, I assume he did not give up his prime real estate). This week's tour was a close-up of the Rose Window that can only be seen by standing on top of the organ. Next week he promises a tour of the pipes in the pipe organ.
My second service was with the church where Ashley was baptized, the First Presbyterian Church of Hamilton Square. It felt helpful to see familiar faces. They are in a sermon series preaching on the Beatitudes (blessed are the.... because they ...) section of the bible. Today was blessed are the peacemakers. We can always use peace, perhaps more than ever today. Not mentioned in the sermon, but a thought I have had is I have not heard about mass looting taking place. Instead I have noticed a massive time of slowing down. Being able to enjoy the birds singing. When i don't fret about what our family has lost (which is not easy) I feel peace.
Third up was the 10 am service where I tend to worship at 5 pm, the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville. Kyle preached on Psalm 23, "the lord is my shepherd." I love that they include a children's sermon even though there are no kids visible. They used fancy technology to have the musicians perform from the safety of their homes. A cool side note, many of the worship participants live together.
Then I took a break until my usual 5 pm WiNK service. Same pastor as at 10 am, but this time he switched to his "WiNK attire," meaning no bow tie. The 10 who signed in (maybe 15 actual people, a light WiNK service, but not unheard of) participated in a lectura divina (I probably have the wrong spelling) where we watched a video of someone reading the Lazarus story (see how my day came in full circle) and coloring in different parts of the image, followed by silent meditation and guided discussion. A month ago the Lenten theme was "In the Wilderness." No one knew at the time just how appropriate it would be. Because we are small group, we had time to just talk to each other. Talk about how we are really doing.
I enjoyed being connected to people for a bit, but did not anticipate how empty I would feel when my Zoom friends clicked off and said good-bye. It doesn't matter if I know the people in real life or not, when that virtual meeting ends I have a sudden feeling of sadness. They suddenly vaporize out of my life. I can't simply turn around and have one more thought.
*Poof*
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