January 19, 2022
Dear Friends,
It is already past the midpoint of January; we are well into the year 2021 2022. (It takes me a while to get used to writing or typing the new year!) Yet much of what has defined the past two years seems to be with us at the start of this new one. And of course, that has to do with the ongoing presence of the coronavirus in our world, found both near and far.
As you may recall, I have recently attended a meeting of an academy after the new year. I also had a role in planning that meeting and will have an even bigger role in planning our next meeting. For our last meeting, we sought to do our due diligence in terms of research on how best to keep all who attended safe. Following CDC guidelines, as well as exploring protocols put in place by other meetings, we required all who attended to have proof of vaccination and a negative COVID test before they could register at the meeting. We had hoped to have no more than five incidents of COVID during or after the meeting, which would be below the statistical expectations for a group our size. We were fortunate that we only had two.
I mention this because I was looking forward to attending our Covenant Midwinter next week. But with rising numbers in both the Seattle and Chicago areas and no protocols required for attendance, I determined it would not be prudent for me to attend. I neither want to infect nor be infected by, anyone. In particular, I would not wish to bring this back with me to Seattle and to transmit this to those on staff with whom I work closely, or others with whom I would interact.
This was a personal decision. But we as a church have some corporate decisions to make. What criteria do we use to determine when we meet together again? Do we use the same precautions we had before or different ones? How do we determine when to relax whatever precautions we put into place? Certainly, we will consult the CDC and state recommendations, as well as follow mandates as they apply. But that still leaves us with some latitude of choice. Pray for our church leadership as begin to lay out a path to a safe and (hopefully rapid) return to worshiping together.
In the meantime, you may want to consider what choices you have to make to keep you and those around you healthy and safe. To this end, the Seattle Times just ran a very helpful article on masks and how to assess their effectiveness. If you are interested you can find it here: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/a-visual-guide-to-protective-masking-against-covid-19/?utm_source=marketingcloud&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Top+of+The+Times+1-15-2022_1_15_2022&utm_term=Active%20subscriber.
But as I said at the beginning, the year marches on. Soon it will be Lent. I would like to invite you all to consider contributing to another Lenten devotional. I am proposing that this year we focus on the Psalms. In particular, I would like to invite you to sign up for a particular psalm (to avoid them being repeated), and then reflect on it, put it in your own words, or respond to it in some other way. The psalms cover the gamut of human emotions and spiritual attitudes and postures. This could be a helpful way for us to share what is on our hearts and minds in this ongoing season of disruption, and to invite others to consider praying a psalm from your particular perspective. Ash Wednesday is March 2nd, so information will be coming soon. Please begin thinking of which psalm you might want to consider for such an opportunity.
As the Apostle Paul wrote, I feel that we have been torn apart from each other, physically but not in the heart, and long to see you again face to face (1 Thessalonians 2:17). Until that time comes, I offer my love and prayers to you all.
Pastor Todd