Friends in Faith,
A pastor friend recently posted a powerful article that I thought I'd share with you all. It reminds us that there has been nothing normal about this year of pandemic. Many of us are carrying with us tremendous amounts of anxiety and stress. Life is normally fairly intense with our own private concerns, but now we have to manage the looming fear of contracting the terrifying coronavirus. Moreover, the virus has devastated our economy and we are all nervous about how we will get back on track as a nation. Normally, we gain strength and perspective by gathering with our loved ones and our church family, as well as enjoying special communal events—but all of those options are unavailable to us because of this highly contagious disease. We take each day as it comes, trying our best to keep trudging along as best we can, but some days we feel like we are barely treading water.
This article, written by John Pavlovitz, reminds us that, now more than ever, we must be gentle and gracious with one another—those we know and love, as well as strangers. We cannot expect business to carry on as usual and to keep doing things "the way we've always done it." We are all trying to cope as best we can during these days of lament, fear, and uncertainty. We all have the choice to give grace, understanding, love, and encouragement to those who come across our path, or we can offer criticisms, judgments, and negativity. We sing that “they will know we are Christians by our love,” so let's share this life-affirming gift with a world that is in desperate need of it. Be kind and gentle with each other; it will make all the difference in the world.
Now more than ever, we must be gentle and gracious with one another—those we know and love, as well as strangers.
God's grace be with you all,
Jesse
UPDATES
To keep your souls nourished, please join us for our weekly Zoom events: Tuesday Zoom Bible studies at 11 a.m. and Wednesday Zoom check-ins at 11 a.m. Facebook Live worship begins at 10:30 a.m. (now with new and improved sound quality!), followed by Zoom worship at 11 a.m. All the of the links for these events can be found on our news page.
Finally, a small group of Bethany folks has gathered via Zoom to discuss ways we might encourage our Bethany family to come together concerning issues of race and racism which so profoundly affect our nation, our communities, and our churches. We are considering a book study together via Zoom and the Presbytery will also be offering two important Zoom events about race this fall. One is called the "Intercultural Transformation Workshop" on September 19 and September 26. And other is a larger conference to be held on October 9 and October 10. Details will follow. Here is a bit more info. If you would like to join in these conversations, please contact Jackie Sneed. Please join us and save the dates!
