Dear Bethany Family and Friends—
Today is Louis Armstrong’s birthday; he was born on August 4, 1901. In his amazing documentary about Jazz, Ken Burns dedicates nearly three episodes to exploring Armstrong’s prodigious talent as well as the many ways that he radically changed popular music. I’ve been listening to his recordings from the late 1920s, including “West End Blues,” all afternoon. Despite so many extraordinary recordings, Armstrong’s biggest hit came about during the later part of his career—“What a Wonderful World.” I’’m sure everyone knows it.
Way back in March, I had the blessing of participating in my one and only fellowship event at Bethany; the very next day we closed the building due to the coronavirus. During Bethany’s “lunch & learn” program, we painted flower pots and enjoyed a delicious meal. As we gathered, we sang a few tunes, including “What a Wonderful World.” It was so sweet to hear this special collection of folks raising our voices as one to sing these lovely lyrics:
I see trees of green, red roses, too;
I see them bloom for me and you,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.I see skies of blue and clouds of white;
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by.
I see friends shaking hands, saying how do you do
They're really saying, “I love you.”I hear babies cry, I watch them grow.
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know,
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.
Yes, I think to myself what a wonderful world.
The love that was shared among all those gathered on that fateful Thursday was palpable. None of us had any idea that we would be entering into this miserable time of pandemic and quarantine, but perhaps singing “What a Wonderful World” was our own little way of proclaiming God’s providence and love in all times and places despite whatever comes our way. And remembering this beautiful day together serves as a bittersweet reminder that one day, soon we pray, we’ll be able to be together again—singing songs and breaking bread.
Yours in faith,
Jesse
UPDATES
Speaking of beautiful music, Music Director Dr. May Tucker continues to share some marvelous hymns for us to sing-along to. You can find her videos here. She is also hoping to begin playing again for us in early September!
Indeed, we are still finding ways to be the church even while socially distant. Everyone is encouraged to join us for our Tuesday Zoom Bible studies at 11 a.m. as well as our Wednesday Zoom check-ins at 11 a.m..We so enjoy catching up and spending a little time chatting about God’s Word. Find all of the log-in info on our news page.
We are also happy to report that we’ve made a breakthrough with the sound for the Sunday morning Facebook Live service. The sound is much clearer now, so join us and be sure to invite your friends, too. You can find the link for this 10:30 a.m. service on our webpage or directly on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/bethpres As always, this service is then immediately followed by our 11 a.m. Zoom worship service which incorporates faith stories by members and a time of prayer. The link for this Zoom service is also found on our news page.
Finally, please know that several church members are discussing creative new ways of being "in touch" with one another as the pandemic continues. If you have any ideas or would like to share your time, talent, or treasure for a particular endeavor, please let myself or a member of Session know.
