Aug 21

Dear Friends,

I sit Tuesday morning listening to this magnificent thunderstorm, the rain falling like gray sheets straight from the sky. Mercifully, I can leave open the windows of the sun porch and enjoy the still, cooling air, the fresh smell of water on grass and ground.

Watching my weather app, feeling the humidity build and seeing the sky grow overcast, I was not feeling very happy. A rainstorm was not in my plans for today. I can’t sweep the deck free of dry leaves. I can’t sweep the garage of the accumulated dog hair and grass cuttings spiderwebs left by the previous owners of my new-to-me house. The fresh paint on every wall will surely take much longer to dry. One of the cats is hiding, guaranteed to re-appear just in time to swipe a long tail through wet paint.

Admittedly, mine are minor concerns in a world fraught with pain and tragedy, both personal and social. New administration rules will adversely affect women’s health and women’s right to choose. The facts and the spin about the health of our economy are at odds, causing confusion about whether to save or spend now, let alone who to vote for in 2020. Friends and loved ones are ill, fragile, uneasy, sad, dying. Some of our nests are emptying, while others fill with the needs of aging elders. What is one to do?

I re-arranged plans for my workday. I focused instead on reaching out to beloveds, making connection and relationship. The thunderstorm, a part of larger life, has called me to respond with creativity, with adaptability and a measure of cheerfulness appropriate for my circumstances. Some things, like rain, we humans can’t do much about. Some things within our social realities, we might be able to affect by our votes. Some things are simply out of our control, no matter what we want, no matter what we would understandably prefer.

May we answer the call of living with creative response, with adaptability. May we remember that religious community is just the right place for creatively shaping worth in a world where meaning is in doubt. May you remember, today and every day, that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so. And “Amen.”

Blessings and best wishes, Rev. Rita