Since the pandemic crisis began, I have become accustomed to sitting with fragmentary thoughts. The things that would have been fleeting thoughts in ordinary times have become more substantial. So, I reflect more thoroughly on pastoral conversations had over the phone and sit with the remnants of spiritual energy generated by Bible study over ZOOM. By phone and over ZOOM I find myself referencing the centrality of the Holy Eucharist for a life of faith. I think I do so as a way of offering assurance that, as broken and discombobulated as we might feel, 'In Christ', we are more than the sum of our parts, more than any number of fragmentary thoughts and feelings. 

It is my faith that all the pieces of our individual lives are collected and pieced together by a loving God who takes joy and delight in us in good times and bad. As exhausted as we might be, God sees us as vital to the broken whole, which is a more substantial and hidden reality than it is possible for us to know. During these days of belonging to St. Barnabas, the vast majority of us must make do with remembered solidarity, a 'live-streamed' view of the sanctuary, a fleeting 'drive-by' glimpse of our church and memories of sustenance shared at the nave altar before the pandemic. So, perhaps like me, you find yourself lingering awhile longer than you might ordinarily do on precious memories such as these; and to that I say, "It is very meet and right so to do," to coin a eucharistic response from the Rite 1 liturgy of the Book of Common Prayer (p.333).

Onward in Hope,

Gareth