June 11, 2020
Dear Grace Church Community,
Blessings and good morning on this week following the blessing and planting of Gideon’s Garden for its 12th year. The day was hot, but the participation by many people in our community allowed young seedlings to be placed in the well-prepared soil and begin a time of growth that will, with God’s help, result in much good harvest for our neighbors. Just as if scheduled, a prodigious rainstorm watered the new garden as most of the seedlings had been installed. This week the Rev. Jen Bloesch, Fisher Riiska, and Timmy Picoli are working hard to put in the rest of the plants, provide water for the new seedlings, and continue to prepare for this season. On June 16, three more young people will join Jen and Fisher as new interns. It is a bounty of joy and activity. If you were not able to help plant on Saturday, you are heartily invited to drive by the garden and share in the beautiful work that is being done. Jen and Fisher are there most mornings. You can roll down your window and offer your thanks. God is good all the time and God is good to Gideon’s Garden, Grace Church, and the Berkshire community.
Tonight at 6:30 PM, I invite each one of you to join me in a conversation around Bearing Witness to God’s Love in a Shattered World. The Zoom link to join is here and you can call +1 646 558 8656 (Meeting ID: 833 1910 8059, Password: 719125) I hope you have had the opportunity to watch the Rev. Otis Moss III’s video The Cross and the Lynching Tree: A Requiem for Ahmaud Arbery. You can go to the video link here. Our hearts have been broken by the horrendous murder of our black brothers and sisters. As a community we have read several books on the struggle of living while black in this country. But in this time of pandemic, when we are seeing the tragic results of poverty, racial violence, a lack of access to health care, food insecurity, and housing insecurity; as church we are offered an opportunity to be witnesses to and share God’s love in the world. This is who we are called to be as followers of Christ. When Jesus tells us we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, this means that our hope is linked to the hope of others. This means that our well-being is linked to the well-being of others. This means that each of us in our own God designed way are called to pray and care and act so that all of God’s children may live a life that is abundant.
These times can seem overwhelming. They can seem that they are just too big for us to have any impact. We may feel worn down, exhausted, and perhaps even crushed by the impact of the pandemic and the ongoing violence of racism. But God has always used people who others may see as meek, who others may see as having no power or influence, who others may see as poor in spirit. And God has time and again used those who see themselves as too little or too weak, to accomplish what God intends for this world. And God has always shown that it is in these very people, us even, that God’s goodness is made visible. I look forward to our conversation tonight.
I also ask for your prayers, for myself and for your Vestry, as we explore how to be church now. In a time of physical separation in the midst of an unknown and ferocious virus, how do we come together as community to pray and worship and support each other. And then how do we continue to love and care for our neighbors? Our Bishop has asked us not to gather in worship before July 1. This date is moveable depending upon the public health crisis. But this time is fertile time. While we wait and watch and listen, we are asking where is God leading us? What new opportunities are being opened in front of us? What makes us church and what will this time create so that we are even more engaged in the work of discipleship? For two Saturdays, June 13 and 27, your Vestry is gathering to explore all these questions and to plan in a time that is shifting and unknowable. I ask your prayers. I ask you to reach out and contact members of the Vestry to share your thoughts, your hopes, your dreams, your discoveries. Together we can continue to care for each other and be a part of bringing about God’s kingdom on this earth.
It seems like every week I bring you big ideas and challenging opportunities. But at the base of each of these letters is my hope that God, who has accompanied us in all the highs and lows of our lives, will help you know that even though we are physically apart, every member of this community is being held in personal prayer. We are church in and out of our building. We are people who God has blessed and continues to call to be a part of God’s love. Always, you are invited to let me or another church member know if you need support or companionship.
May the peace of God that passes understanding be with you,
Janet
O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be our strength: By the might of Your Spirit lift us, we pray, to Your presence, where we may be still and know that You are God; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Grace Church is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic:
Conversation about Race
Time:
Thursday, June 11 at 6:30 PM
Meeting ID:
833 1910 8059
Password:
719125
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