A Different Start to Fall

Dear Friends,

I hope you are getting off to a good, albeit different, beginning of fall.  

This past Tuesday, during my early morning walk, I was thinking about how strange it felt not to see the usual level of traffic on the first day of school. Toward the end of my walk, however, I started seeing groups of parents and children walking in the neighborhood.  And just as I finished, I noticed a group of parents and children gathering at the front door of the elementary school across from our house.  They were taking “first day of school” pictures.  This struck me as a really wonderful way to keep things as normal as possible during such an unusual time.  School is on-line for now, but I imagine keeping this yearly ritual gave the children a sense of grounding, knowing that they would one day return to their physical school. 

The same thing is true for our spiritual lives.  We all need structure to keep us grounded during this stressful time.  There is a lot that threatens to toss us to and fro, between the pandemic, the struggle for racial justice, anxiety about the election, as well as family, job and personal struggles.  So we need to be very intentional about nurturing our life with God. 

During our virtual worship service this Sunday, we’ll be reflecting on some practical ways of doing that.  When we are calm and centered, it affects everyone around us.  

Yours in Christ,
Shearon+