At this time there may be limits on how much toilet paper or bleach or flour or chicken or eggs you can purchase in the grocery stores – if you can find any. In my weird brain that made me think of the song from way back, ‘What the World Needs Now’ and yes there is a wonderful virtual recording from the students of Berkeley School of Music in Boston.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QagzdvzzHBQ
I hope we all agree, ‘what the world needs now is love, sweet love … it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of ..
and what I hear in the Gospel ‘that God thinks that too.’ This week we hear Jesus talk about unlimited love. Everlasting, for ever and ever love. And love is what we do for each other.
Ah love … so easy to fall in love and so difficult to maintain. We have, I'm guessing here, all fallen in love. The challenge is staying in love.
Jesus with his disciples for the last time before his arrest tells them, ‘love one another’. He gives them a new commandment, a commandment to supersede all the other commandments. He really does boil it all down to LOVE!
That’s it. All the other commandments, all the other rules, all the other directives, they all come down to love. Love one another. There appear to be no caveats, no ifs, no ands, no buts.
Love one another. This is the only commandment.
you say, we say, yes but . .. not everyone.
Love on another. Words are one thing actions quite another. In our world – love one another!
Are there times when love is new? Easy and light and birds are singing and life is all smiles and rainbows. I sure hope so!! And then are there times when it is hard, when we struggle? Probably, of course.
When we love like Jesus there will be resistance to the way of love. I guarantee that. Love looks weak and vulnerable. Love seems ill equipped to face the bully or the naysayers. Loving one another is fraught with danger – so if you like a little danger try loving each other a little more. What does your love look like, is it smiling, or simple acts of kindness, taking groceries or well wishes to your neighbors. It is just indeed what the world need now, love!
Love for everyone and all times! This is one of the places God asks us to work out the details. Ready, set, go!
And now a transition from general love to church love – and more specifically to our little corner at 10
th
and Chandler.
We are a parish of people in communion with each other and the community! We continue to pray for each as we worship together twice every Sunday.
We gather online for prayer and pastoral connections and study and for the administration of the parish from staff meetings to finance to vestry.
Yet the question on all our minds and lips -for how long???? – yes that’s the question we all want answered now.
For now we are continuing to do what we have been doing through Zoom and Facebook and on our website. Email is how we communicate our message out to the parish at least 2 times each week.
When will that change?
Well that all depends. We, the clergy and vestry are listening to our governor, to our medical experts and to the Bishop as we decide how to move and when. We are working on plans now for a limited return to the nave over the summer, if and when the numbers of new cases are lower and testing improves. The bishop is meeting this week with music folks from churches across the diocese with active, robust choir and music programs, ours included. They will together help figure out how and when we might safely sing together again. This is of course just one aspect of worship to consider. We are thinking and talking about everything from our nursery and Sunday school to bathrooms to face masks to how to sanitize the building safely and effectively. All vibrant parts of our parish need to be considered and carefully thought through. This means modifying our worship space to limit the number who come to any one service. We will be as specific as we can when we can.
AND what we know is that God loves us and we will love each other. We will continue to offer a livestreaming platform as part of regular worship for ever and ever. So in this in-between time we have the space we need to make sure we are as prepared and as safe as we can be for all people and more digitally proficient.
Please keep up your prayers for the world and for each other, encourage each other, wash your hands, wear a mask and be safe. And remember Jesus' commandment to love another. Also join Iain and I for office hours each Wednesday from 11 -12.30 on Zoom. You can pop in and share your thoughts and concerns and questions.
What the world needs now is love sweet love …
Rev. Alison +
