While we were on vacation, my oldest son, Wes, decided to take a fishing boat out on the lake. The vessel had a little electric powered engine. He had an easy time getting out on the lake, but then the wind came up. Much as he tried to get back to dock, the boat didn't have enough power and he had no oars. We all had a good laugh watching the rescue operation as Scott rode in a kayak with two extra sets of oars tucked in it. (shown below) Then two of them rowed back in the boat with a kayak sticking up in the boat. The wind was strong enough to require the power of 2 men to get back to shore.
​Later, on the way home from visiting a quaint little town on Lake Superior, we had another wind encounter. This time, we hit the eastern front of a severe thunderstorm. In seconds, our little Prius was buffeted and pushed off the road. We couldn't see a thing. The closest way to describe it was a natural version of a drive through a car wash. But worse! We all survived and lived to marvel at the power of that storm.

Wind is like that. It caresses and it careens us. It soothes and it ravages. And yet, Jesus names the Holy Spirit as wind, breath, an invisible blowing force in our lives.

At Pentecost (Acts 2:2) the arrival of the Holy Spirit was described this way: And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. The whole house was filled. Not just the disciples and followers of Jesus. Everywhere was filled, even the back closet where the old linens had rested for months. The dust lifted and the world changed.
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I don't know what deep meaning we can pull from this. I only know that taming the wind is impossible. And taming the Spirit of God is also impossible. God's ways are better than ours, even in the howling midst of the storm. That is is enough. May we choose to believe that change is a part of the Spirit's work. May we trust.

-- Pastor Rebecca

So much in our world is going wrong that it's hard to remember to celebrate what's going right. For months now, we seem to be circling around a downward spiral of bad possibilities. We've been separated from our familiar work, social, and worship life.
And yet, in spite of it all, there are a lot of things to celebrate. This marathon doesn't look like it will be over anytime soon. Yet, powerful and positive things are still happening. Have you tried to make a list of your top 10 good things? Things you are grateful for right now? I've done one here for St. Paul's. See what you think:

1. We are doing well financially. In spite of it all, we are all still giving and investing in God's kingdom work at St. Paul's.
2. Ministry-wise we are providing daily for the food, internet, and resource needs of our neighbors. And we are continuing to provide delicious meals to 15 - 20 people each week. We are also giving them masks.
3. We are housing someone who was 11 years homeless before moving into our parish house. Now, his rent covers our costs for his utilities and he has become essential to our ongoing ministry in the neighborhood!
4. We are gathering on Zoom, on average, 4 times a week. This has been a life-saver for me. I've loved keeping up with those who participate. In fact, in some ways we are drawing closer through this separation because we are sharing more of our personal stories and perspectives than we ever could during coffee hour.
5. Our friendships with one another are deepening through phone calls, email and snailmail.
6. Our website and YouTube channel are creating a St. Paul's satellite community. People from as far away as New Hampshire and Arizona have joined zoom calls. And, we have one new intending-member who joined us through YouTube and lives locally.
7. We are getting new ideas for our memorial garden. The plans so far look amazing and will enhance the memorial garden, and enable us to widen our wedding and liturgical options outdoors.
8. We are doing small facility improvements while they are not such an imposition. The gutters, basement, awning, and stairwell are either being improved or will be improved before we are back in our building.
9. We are still a small but mighty, beautiful, fiesty, candid group of disciples and it's an amazing privilege to be your Rector.
10. We belong to a God of love, truth, beauty, grace, justice and hope - articulated in Jesus Christ. What, I ask you, What could be better than that?

We haven't crossed the finish line yet. The pandemic is still raging and it promises to be a marathon event. But thanks be to God, we are still passing the baton. We are still running the race, and our eyes are on the prize. As Paul puts it in Philippians 4:13-15a:  I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus. 

                                           --- Pastor Rebecca

 A funt thing to do when reading scripture is stop and ask yourself, "What other way could this have happened?". The stories in the Gospels are told to less to describe what happened, as to tell why it happened that way. The result gives us a greater sense of who Jesus is. Think about Easter or Pentecost and imagine other ways God could have worked the Resurrection or the coming of the Holy Spirit. See what I mean?

One of my takeways after imagining alternative Resurrection scenes, is to realize how much God treasures everyday life. The morning stillness, the pleasure of clean clothes, healthy bodies, laughter, and all the ingredients of a regular day seem to please God more than a thousand shining castles and glorious coronations. Our small spaces, our simple lives matter to God. Every one of them. Every minute of them. Do they matter to us? Do we give them the respect and honor that is due them? If there ever was an opportunity to treasure the mundane, it's now.

Each one of us, from the stranger we consider most different from us politically or culturally, to the one we know most intimately, is living an everyday life. Our commitment to honoring everyday includes a commitment to ensuring that everyone has their basic needs met. That's why we have our little free food pantry and why we serve meals on Thursdays. That's why we moved our Building's Supervisor into our Parish House. After eleven years of homelessness, now he has the stability he so badly needed. There are so many needs, but there is just today. Today is our chance to savor and share. May we live in that truth each moment of every day as we honor God and give thanks for each of our blessings.
---Pastor Rebecca

As we move deeper in to this strange and uncertain time, I suspect that you, like me, are a jumble of emotions. I miss my old life. The one where I knew what day it was, and what I was supposed to do that day!

I miss you! I loved seeing our community in person. Whether it was a week night or a Sunday morning. I loved the hugs, laughter, news, and worship time. I miss my pastoral calls to see Maureen and those in hospital or home bound. I suspect you miss seeing your St. Paul's family too.

When God's chosen people, the Israelites, were exiled in Babylon, they mourned for what they had lost. Psalm 137 begins, "By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept." The whole question of the psalm is essentially, how do we do this? How do we sing the Lord's song upon an alien soil? (v 4).

Truth be told, online meeting is alien soil for most of us. Listening to the numbers of COVID-19 infections, being told to stay home, and stay distant, is all alien. The unknown is fearful.

Allow yourself to sit down and weep for what you've lost. There is tremendous anxiety and fear all around us, but we are God's people; grafted into the deep roots of our Jewish ancestors. And know, that while we grieve, and while we ask "how do we do this?" God is already guiding and accompanying us into this new land.

I'm trying to be intentional about feeling the sadness, because it grounds me in reality in a way that fear cannot. Please join me in looking inward at your own heart.. God meets us there, always. Even as God is guiding us toward tomorrow.

----Pastor Rebecca