I went into the Sanctuary
this morning, the first time I’ve been on the church campus in a couple of
weeks or so, a notable rarity for me. Such is the advantage of being a key-holder,
though in days long gone by we kept a key on the ledge over the door to the
Fish Bowl as the room was known. Well okay, it was a bread-knife and the doors
were not the higher quality of security doors we have in place today.
The pre-dawn sky back-lit the stained-glass windows, at least the ones still in place during our
refurbishing process. (give people!) Being in the place alone and in the dark
is one of my favorite times there and only in part because the darkness masks
the scars technology is leaving on the walls but more so because I feel God's presence. The hush was reverent as I eased
my way along the empty pews, so unlike the hush that’s come over the streets
and malls and parks and our beaches during our time of social distancing and
hunkering down at home.
It’s easy to pray here
along but difficult to focus on the greatest area of need for prayer. I’ve been
wondering what the story arc is for covid-19, how its epilogue will read. I
decided to ask Jesus whose likeness looked down from the round window above our
altar. Alas, no answer was forthcoming. However, I’ve decided to ask it of Him
each time my random reminder to pray goes off. I am surely not the answer and I’ve
no brain power to bring to bear on the problem. Who is? Who will rise up and bring
the answer and allow us to return to a more level and even new normal?
Surely the answer is not to
return too soon to how things were and simply power through the crisis as
though the loss of even one extra person is worth the ‘boost’ to the economy so
the rich can maintain robust portfolios and tout how the middle class is so
better off because of it. You know the rich, those folks with concierge
healthcare that can buy a covid-19 test at the drop of a hat when the folks on the front lines can’t find one to save a life? This is a folly preferred by the
ignorant and greedy.
Who will rise up and
provide the definition of a new normal and give guidance on how we should live
and thrive? I’ll ask, and ask again and sometime someone will come forward…
Come quickly Lord.
In His grip, jerry
