Pastor’s Corner: How is Your Soul?

April 22, 2020

How is your soul today?

The news from the world keeps contradicting itself. We hear reassuring words – or frightening words – from people who cannot be certain about the future. We’re told to expect one thing, but another happens. Even as the numbers of sick and dying rise in the United States, one cannot help noticing how uneven this pandemic is.

In New York state, as of last weekend, over 233,000 people have been diagnosed. Next-door neighbor Connecticut has 17,000 ill, and Pennsylvania 31,000. Vermont, however, has just 800 people sick.

Here on Hawai’i Island, we have had reason to believe that the stay-at-home measures had protected us from transmission within our community… until last week. We might believe that it will be limited to the west side of the island… but it probably will not.

We’ve seen hopes that seemed delivered turn into hopes that had been dashed. That emotional see-saw has been laid over a foundation of anxiety. What will happen? When will we feel safe again?

That’s hard on the body and the mind. It’s very hard on the soul.

This ultra-lenty Lent probably took its toll on your Lenten practice. It did on mine. This might be a good time to experiment with a practice to help carry you through this time. Set aside a time for prayer. Find a devotional series to follow. Read a Psalm every day. Join our Tuesday Bible study on Zoom. Choose a book of the Bible and start reading it from beginning to end.

I wouldn’t choose Leviticus or Numbers. Look for something that feeds your spirit. That’s the point. Feed your spirit. All this disconnection and disruption, well: it makes our spirits hungry.

Feed your soul, friends.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric