Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

One of the hardest choices we’ve made this year was to delay our regathering as a community for worship. We had expected to be back for Easter. Then for Pentecost. Then for October. What we are learning is that whatever our expectations are they keep getting pushed aside for a stark reality. 

The U.S. hit its highest daily COVID-19 case count since pandemic began this past Friday. At least 81,010 cases were confirmed, surpassing the previous record set July 17 when 76,842 cases were recorded. We are not out of the woods yet. The Vestry made the decision to delay regathering discussions until we saw how the pandemic would proceed this fall and we are now seeing numbers that indicate a very difficult winter ahead.

Earlier this week, I was beginning to plan out, in my head, what a safe partial regathering might look like — second-guessing good choices already made. I thought about outdoor services, masks, distancing stickers on the ground, and more. I wondered what Christmas Eve could look like — even in some significantly reduced way — in person. Of course, given the constraints of our building size, we could only get 250 or so of the normal 1,400 or so who come on Christmas Eve into the services if we had social distancing.

I write all of that just to say how normal it is for us all to go through periods where we make choices and then second guess them again and again. I wonder how many of you are doing a little of that now with the election? Maybe you’re 100% sure — but maybe you’ve wondered if you are making the right choice for one reason or another.

The weight of past decisions is often a thing that grinds us down and binds us. We run them over again and again in our hearts and minds. Yet, the most liberating thing we can realize is that God doesn’t rely on us to get things right all the time — he relies on us to be faithful all the time. He calls us to remember our deepest love for him — and his for us as we make our way through whatever life is putting before us and through whatever we have tried to put behind us.

So as we make our way through the coming weeks let’s stay focused and grounded in that firm foundation of love. It helps put our past and our future, our choices made and our choices yet to be made, in the right perspective. Sometimes, when people ask me how I’m doing, I reply, “In the cosmic scheme everything is fine.” We all have our challenges and our dilemmas but, in the cosmic scheme, things really are fine — they are better than fine — they are redeemed, restored, and held in perfect love. 

When we remember that then all of our other challenges, choices, losses, and gains find their true meaning. If we’ve been faithful then it will have been, and will always be, enough for a God who loves us.

Yours in Christ,

Fr Robert