This February has certainly reminded us of the challenges of winter. When the first snow hit at the beginning of the month, I heard someone say that it would soon warm up again. Assuming that everything would melt quickly, I only shoveled my driveway minimally. Then another snow can and then another. Between fighting to keep enough driveway space for two cars and needing to shuffle Sunday and Thursday plans for several weeks in a row due to winter weather, I have been continually reminded this February of all the ways that winter can wreak havoc on daily routines. In a year that has continually demanded flexibility yet another layer has been added.
As we move into March, we move into the hope of spring. Winter is not yet fully past, and yet the signs of new life begin to show around us. The world begins to wake up from its winter slumber and begin to venture out again. This March also marks one year of being hunkered down due to the pandemic. It has been a long and trying time for many, in various ways. Flexibility beyond what most of us could have imagined has been called for with regularity. For the church, it has felt like a long slumber.
Just as March brings signs of new life with the coming of spring, we are beginning to see signs of new life in the church as well. I have found myself using this phrase several times in talking to different people and groups over the past few weeks. We have had one group of children receive their first communion, and are beginning to look to the next group. Confirmation classes are underway, and we look forward to a confirmation service in April. At the end of February, we welcomed a new group of Stephen Ministers. Zoom-based social events are creating wonderful times, and teams and committees continue to meet online and build up the spiritual lives of those who participate. Plans for upcoming baptisms are underway. We are still very much in Lent, not yet to the full celebration of life renewed and the church fully gathered together, but we are adapting and finding our way to live as church and celebrate God’s action among us in the situation we find ourselves in. We are surrounded by signs of hope and signs of life.
—Pastor Eric