One thing that’s been especially important to me in these overwhelming months is to make space for the difficult emotions- grief, fear, sadness. Because when I make space, I notice that these emotions don’t actually last forever, and they don’t take up all the space in the world. I, like all of us, have grown and can still grow in my ability to process and feel difficult things, and also to note that more positive emotions- happiness, joy, contentment- can all exist right alongside the more difficult things.
I guess the author of Ecclesiastes was onto something:
For everything there is a season…
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance…
I feel like we have a decent balance of opportunities to weep and laugh and mourn in our common life (we are totally missing dancing though!) Between Saturday [Evening] [Not] Live, our BREAD Talks Lent class on relevant and sometimes difficult topics, the chance to support 2 refugee families, Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper and Ash Wednesday, a labyrinth walk, and actually quite a bit more, there are a lot of opportunities for meaningful connection. Take a look below and see what fits: come cry when you need to cry, laugh when you need to laugh, act when you need to be useful, talk when you need to process. I am unendingly grateful that this is a community that can hold what’s difficult while also making space for joy. Our connection with each other, ultimately, is the strongest force that can sustain us and help us move through these times, mourning and laughing together.
Rev. Anne