May 2020 Messenger

Author: Rev. Scott Cousineau
May 02, 2020

Do you remember the old-time May Day celebrations … children skipping and dancing around the May Pole decorating it with streamers and flowers? What a wonderful celebration of spring! Of course, the decorating of May Poles had gone the way of the dinosaur by the time I was growing up, but the images conjure up thoughts of happier days. Oh, what we would give to see the children … to see ourselves … dancing around the May Pole!

But, alas, that is not to be just yet. We are entering our second full month of quarantine and physical distancing. I am certain that we are all feeling the same things … we want to DO something, we want to GO somewhere, we want to see people in real life … not on some digital platform. We want to be together. We want our old lives back.

Or, do we?

How often did you feel stressed about your schedules? How often did you actually complete your ‘To Do’ list for the day? How often did you simply sit and enjoy a meal without interruption? How often did you go for a walk or sit and listen to the music of the earth?

I am not suggesting that we have returned to the Garden of Eden. I know that many of us are struggling right now. Some have had family members and friends suffer with the coronavirus. Some are working endless hours as frontline caregivers and essential employees. Some have lost jobs or experienced a reduction in income. Some have had to delay medical care and surgical procedures because hospitals and rehab facilities are not safe places right now. Some are trying desperately to work from home AND have become home educators for children. Some have missed out on proms, dances, concerts, graduations … all of those milestone events in their lives. Some are feeling lost and alone.

O God, hear our prayers. Be with those who struggle. Give them your peace. Lift up those who are weary. Be their strength. Be with those who grieve. Enfold them in comforting arms. Be with those who are anxious. Give them hope. Take each and every child by the hand, be our rock and our salvation. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and lead us upon the way of healing and light. We need you … how we need you … for the living of this day. We pray in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.

In the midst of these difficult days, I have been touched by the ways that this church family has responded and ministered to the needs of our community. You have made cloth masks and headbands, you have shopped for your neighbors, volunteered at food banks, given generously to the Deacons’ Discretionary Fund. You have sent cards and letters; you have checked in on one another. You have embodied precisely what it means to live in the Kingdom of God! I thank you all from the depths of my soul for all that you have done to love and serve your neighbors.

Grace and Peace,
Scott

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