A New Years message from Pastor Matthias –
The threshold between years offers a moment to pause, as though on a
mountain top, looking back at where we have been and ahead to where we will go. Though the shift of the calendar year is not observed officially in the liturgical calendar, it is an appropriate act of faith to reflect on where we and God have been, and where God might lead us next.
2020 has been a summarily hard year. From the pandemic that has devastated the world, taking 1.6 million lives (as of this writing) and separating many from loved ones, to the uprisings and justified rage at the murder of George Floyd by police and the long-standing trends of injustice which his death represents, to the anxiety and whirlwind of the national election and undermining of trust in our democracy (imperfect
though it is) by some sworn to uphold it.
We too each experienced challenges, struggles, and losses this year, alongside moments of hope, gratitude, relief, and community.
Where has God been this year? I have seen God in the rise of people calling for justice, marching in the streets, choking through tear-gas. God was at the bedside of every person sick or dying of COVID. God was in the grief of what has been lost. God was in the masks and the distanced waves, the sharing of resources among neighbors and the creativity of hope, shared like small truffles of sweetness in hard times. Little graces when all felt hopeless. And God was in you. I saw that proved time and again in your acts of generosity, inspiration, perseverance, acts of love, and sacrifice. Where did you meet the Holy this past year?
As we look towards a new year with the start of 2021, there is some palpable hope in the bud. The first doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered, offering some promise that we may be able to gather in person sometime in the coming year. So too is there hope of more competent and compassionate national leadership, after a degrading previous tenure, and movement toward justice marching on in ways both
macro and local.
There is much unknown yet—particularly, when it might be safe for us to gather in-person again. Still, we give thanks for the God of Love, and Grace, and Justice who goes with us in all of life, and leads us on the path of liberation into 2021 and beyond. Thank you for all the ways you manifest God’s love in this world.
In grace and gratitude,
Pastor Matthias