From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

I was reading a story this past week about the rise in incivility on airplanes. In 2020, there were around 120 assaults against flight attendants. In 2021, that number is already around 990 such incidents. That’s just one example of how angry and uncivil people have become. I am sure we could all think of even more examples that we have seen or experienced.

There seems to be something about our national life and culture right now that is unleashing this pent-up anger, resentment, and aggression. One of the opportunities for the Church is to show another way of being. Sure, we all have our frustrations day to day but for a Church that follows the Way of Love that Jesus models for us, we need to hold ourselves to a different standard. We must be a people who show what it means to love our neighbor and to assume the best in and about one another.

An example might be regarding simple things like mask requirements or dodgy sound in our live-stream. Of course those things annoy all of us in one way or another. At the same time, I think we need to exercise charity and a calm patience as we endure these things together—and look forward to those things changing over time. I get all sorts of letters from folks. Some are thoughtful, kind, and generous. Some…aren’t.

I have found myself needing to second guess my first impulse in so many situations. For example, I was in the store the other day, and someone who wasn’t masked began to cough right over my shoulder. I turned and asked, “What is wrong with you?!” Now, that wasn’t my finest moment and I was already frustrated about the shopping experience in general, but I am sure I could have found a more diplomatic way of handling it.

We are all frustrated in our lives. Whether we are still dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic year, annoyed by things we see in the news, perplexed by the actions of our fellow humans, or just flat exhausted by the state of things, we are all in the midst of some big changes and challenges in our lives.

The hope we have, though, and the love we know in God, are both far bigger than the frustrations and exhaustion. Perhaps that is what we can offer the world—a sense of calm confidence that all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well. It’s hard to hold fast to that and yet that is the challenge we are given as people of faith. We hold fast to faith in that which we cannot see, which changes the way we respond to that which we see every day.

Let’s keep encouraging one another, bearing all things with quiet confidence, and sharing our hope with a world that is so in need of it.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert