Greetings everyone!
Thursday morning I was the driver for my mom, who had her second planned cataract surgery. I am amazed at how it took less time to do the surgery than to do all the paperwork and pre-op. In 30 minutes, a cloudy lens was removed and a new one was installed in her eye...a repeat of what they did for her other eye back in May. After that first procedure she remarked at the colors, how things were brighter and more vivid.
A cataract surgery can enable you to see the world in a whole new way.
2020 has been a bit of a blur for me...kinda like a cloudy lens. So much has happened... from COVID19, to protests and rallies, to online school and worship, to dining and grocery shopping with masks on. The coming fall looks to be filled with more of the same. It would be natural to simply get frustrated, angry, and say “enough!”
Yet, you and I are called into a unique vocation as Christians. Yes...we can feel the range of emotion, but
at the core of our calling is to see and respond to the world through a particular lens...a cross-shaped lens. This is the lens by which God sees us! This is the lens by which we can see how much God loves us...how much God loves ALL! It is through this lens that we see Christ in our neighbor and God at work all around us bringing hope and new life.
What about this Fall looks cloudy to you?
What lenses are you using see and make sense of the world?
As important as it is to watch the daily newsfeed,
let us not forget to get an equal or larger dose of God’s good-news-feed! When overwhelmed a couple weeks ago, I found Psalm 77. Wow. When I worry about this Fall, I read out loud Jesus’ reflection on the lilies and the bird (Matthew 6). When I wonder what in the world is going on...I meet Jesus at night alongside Nicodemus (John 3). My soul and life are fed. My hope is restored. I see my family, my neighbor, and our world in a whole new way...like I have been through some holy cataract surgery.
May the lens of Christ transform how you see and live in the world this weekend and in the season to come.
Speaking of seasons...the Fall is right around the corner. Congregational life will look a little different.
Expect a survey early next week with some specific questions to help flesh out ideas that committees and staff are working on to adapt things for the fall. For example, we are looking at having a Favorite Hymn Sunday where you can vote via text DURING live-stream worship to pick the next hymn. Let the Spirit speak! I am working on details to start offering communion in the near future...the best way to open the table safely to all is to offer various options. Rally Day is looking to have a drive-through event...to get backpacks blessed, drive through a hose shower to remember your baptism, and more fun and memorable ways to mark the start of the school
year! The Spirit is infinitely creative...so let us be open to joining into God’s life-giving creativity in new ways this Fall...and forever be transformed in how we see and live in the world!
Peace,
Pastor Vanicek