From the Rector: The COVID New Normal

Aloha friends,

This Sunday St. Mark’s will offer the opportunity for people to return to the church for worship. I will share all the details, but this has been a difficult decision making process for many of us. Those of you who know me well, know that one of my gifts is to be decisive. I have no trouble making decisions, especially in troubled times. That being said, this pandemic has made me incredibly indecisive. We are all out of our element.

Many have shared with me that they are not ready to return to church. Others have been ready to return to the church weeks ago. Some of you love worshipping via Zoom, while others of you absolutely detest Zoom. Some of you are waiting to see what the increased infections are due to the Memorial Day weekend. And if COVID was not anxiety-provoking enough, another plague has burst open within our society - human discord multiplied by the ugly sin of racism. Everything seems out of control these days. All of us are mourning the death of George Floyd.

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, one of the principle feasts of the church year. The Trinity is often described as the dance of God - three distinct persons acting together in perfect unity of being. Some theologians have taught that the Trinity teaches us perfect love. The Triune God in three persons demonstrates the most perfect example we have of mutual flourishing and co-existence. The Trinity reminds us that our relationships are to be rooted in the perfect love of God, and that just as the three persons of God flourish through their interdependence, we too are to flourish with one another due to our interdependence. Said simply, we need each other, and we need the love of each other.

Amidst the extreme anxiety in our society, St. Mark’s is going to open for worship. Not because we are reckless. Our list of protocols exemplifies that we are anything but reckless. In addition to being safe to do so, we are opening for worship, because even though we shall be physically distanced and masked, humans need each other in true human form. Virtuality is never true existence. People, more than ever, need to be brought together safely. For some of you, that can now include in-person gatherings of worship at St. Mark’s.

The lectionary this Sunday has a sense of humor. The epistle is from St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, and in it the Apostle writes, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Well, we won’t be doing that this Sunday! We will have to greet one another from afar, and if there are kisses, they will have to be “air kisses.” Please be sure to check the schedule for this weekend regarding worship.

In closing, I will quote more of Sunday’s epistle. “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.”

Father Paul Lillie+