October 2021
Thank you for your encouragement and care, your love and prayers over these past few weeks. Thyra’s parents have now moved into a lovely and excellent assisted living setting, where they can be together as her father continues his recovery from a recent stroke. Their children and grandchildren have mostly had a chance to see them recently and each day seems a bit more hopeful than the last. Thyra and I are grateful for the support you have shown.
We will be seeing them again soon, combining a visit to Toronto with the closing up of our cottage a couple of hours north of there. We are also looking forward to a weekend with Hannah and Daniel, who will join us near the end of the week.
It has been a reminder for me of how precious and valuable is the time we are given. None of us holds a claim on anything but the present. We are blessed and fortunate as the sun rises on us each new day. Even more, we are blessed in and with each other.
That continues to be one of the ongoing areas of learning in my life. Over the past almost two years we have experienced disappointment and devastation, right alongside astonishment, wonder and joy. The miracles we have seen, the creativity and initiative, the care and compassion of our congregation has been amazing. If someone had told us two years ago what lay ahead we couldn’t have believed them. But you have been an ongoing, continuing, even relentless source of encouragement.
This month we are privileged to receive a number of new persons into our church family. Some have known us in different ways for some time. Others discovered RHUMC when we were all in full lockdown, through the miracle of YouTube and virtual worship. How unlikely and incredible it seems that people should find a sense of welcome and home in such a strange time. On the other hand, maybe that is exactly when the need for community and connection is most vital.
Pastoral ministry has its ups and downs. There are difficult weeks and tedious days. But those are more than made up for by the examples of resilience and compassion we pastors get to see being lived out in your lives each day. Even from my own limited perspective on all of it, the view is pretty amazing. I can only imagine how it appears from where God sits.
Grace and Peace,
