Take It or Leave It?

Like it or not we are still self-isolating. Delaware is seeing an exponential increase in cases of COVID-19, the church has personal stories of folks that have the disease and we have a long way to go. I think that many of us can easily complain about our situations and allow despair to get the best of us.

But what if….

What if we pay close attention to what we are doing instead of what we are not doing. What are we doing in these times that is worth keeping? I had such a special 40th birthday party - my best friend in Chicago and my parents in the suburbs joined Craig and me for a celebration that I will never forget. I think I would have been disappointed not seeing my parents and Amy for my birthday if we had a normal Wilmington celebration. I do not think I would have thought about having a Zoom/FaceTime/WhatsApp celebration with them. I see my closest friends in Kuwait and Spain just as often as I did when they lived in Wilmington and find I’m more focused on my conversations with them when on screen. The seven month time away does not seem so long now.

Could we have greater contact with friends and family far away after we go back to the world?

Can we bend the use of technology to fit into a world that connects more personally and spiritually?

I believe so. I have always loved going to Compline services...but we do not have the capacity or interest at St. Stephen’s to have these services physically on site...but they do have a great online following. Perhaps we can reach across the cyber world and touch lives spiritually and pastorally.

I’m reading more and catching up on deferred maintenance. Completing projects that have been in the ‘to do’ pile for far too long. I wonder how I wasted so much time being ‘busy’ but not really doing anything. I think that one of the benefits from this global slow down is that we can ponder the question: what should I just leave in the past? What is not necessary to bring to this new normal, because I guarantee you this, we have a lot of baggage that can just stay in the past. What are you going to take with you in this new future and what are you going to leave behind?

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Jason