An October Sunday in a Pastor's Life During the Pandemic

 Last Sunday I woke up at 6 am listening to Krista Tippett's program, "On Being." Her conversation that day was with Pastor Otis Moss, and they talked about the pastor and teacher, Howard Thurman. Howard Thurman was one of the teachers for a great number of the Civil Rights leaders, and his book, Jesus and the Disinherited, was one that Martin Luther King carried with him. One of the things that Rev. Otis Moss said was that Thurman talked about how each of has an inward sea, and in the sea is an island, and on the island is an altar, and by the altar is an angel with a flaming sword. In order to put something important on the altar, we need to get by the angel to find what is truly genuine and come alive - then you begin to work outward. Thurman pushed to see how much of our struggle for racial justice and for embodied compassion is an inner journey as well as the outer activity. Wow. God was there in that word. 

But I needed to get up and take the dogs out for a walk. We left in the still of morning darkness and came back in the beginnings of daylight. The pups were happy. They are in touch with their inner core and don't need to work on it like I do. Returning home, I caught up on a few tweets about the Supreme Court hearings with Amy Coney Barrett. I'm pretty sure that neither she nor many of the Senate Judiciary Committee members are very deeply familiar with Howard Thurman's work on Jesus and the Disinherited. I wondered how God is there, too. 

Next I read an early morning email from the son of a member, asking about sharing an old lefse griddle with someone in the congregation. I smiled, for I know God dwells in the details. 

Then I went to church to prepare for our outdoor communion. It was nearly 32 degrees. It's a good thing our congregation has a lot of hardy people. As we were setting up, I also struggled a bit with viewing the Facebook Premiere of our online worship service - so what else is new? It is great to have these technological aids during the pandemic, but I must admit to my share of frustrations around these things. Then we got tables and chairs and bread and wine and keyboard set up in the parking lot. People were cheerful at the outdoor service! They like seeing one another. About 50 Minnesotans came with gloves and hats and either home-brought communion or the little kits we had available. How was God there? I think God comes embodied in people who are safe, masked, distanced, and present with love and care. 

How is God present these days? I don't find a lot of marshmallowy sweetness encircling me day by day. However, when I slow down and breathe and notice, there are more than enough crumbs of grace to sustain me and to share in community. Maybe this is how to get to the inward sea and find the island with the altar and the angel with a flaming sword. Maybe this is how to put what is important there and find what is genuine and leads to outward life. 

How are you these days, and what sustains you in the inward sea of your being?