Pilgrims in a Time of Fear

Dear Friends,

I lift up my eyes to the hills—

  from where is my help to come?

My help comes from the Lord,

  who made heaven and earth.  

In these opening lines from Psalm 121 for this Sunday, we hear a call and response between a pilgrim on their way to Jerusalem and a responding priest.  It is an expression of trust that God is with them as they make their way.  The pilgrimage replicates the Exodus journey when the Israelites were led from slavery in Egypt to the freedom of the Promised Land.  

Every Sunday, we come together as pilgrims to ask God to continually guide us on our earthly journey and to free us from influences that threaten our spiritual freedom.  One of the forces at work right now is the growing concern about the spread of the coronavirus.  It is very important that we all take prudent precautions for our physical health and follow the advice of the medical experts.  It is also crucially important that we take care of our spiritual health, asking God to help us to resist becoming enslaved by fear.  Fear can really wreak havoc with our sense of well-being.   We take the necessary precautions, but we endeavor to keep our spirits open to God, to others and to our truest and deepest selves.  

I look forward to gathering as fellow pilgrims this Sunday.  We will use hand sanitizer, avoid handshakes and forego intinction (dipping) during communion, and we will do that not out of a spirit of fear, but as expressions of our love for one another.   

Yours in the peace of Christ,

Shearon+