Pastor’s Corner: Pride and Sadness

April 29, 2020

As you read on the front page of this Messenger, we will not resume gathering for worship until June at the earliest. Our Board of Deacons reached this conclusion about twenty-four hours before Governor Ige announced the extension of the state stay-at-home directive. I am a little proud that we were able to make this decision before the government could announce theirs.

That pride mixed into a great well of sadness. I miss worshiping with all of you. I am also determined to limit the spread of this illness. I’m sad that this is one of the ways we have to do it.

This week, the news brought a little brightness to my pandemic blues. The governor announced that florist shops will be among the first “non-essential” businesses that can re-open. We will begin the journey to a new normal to the sight and scent of flowers.

One of my practices throughout this separation time has been to take a photograph of a flower and share it on social media. Some of those pictures have appeared in the Weekly Chime as well. They have been “an orchid/hibiscus/anthurium for your spirit.” Recently I started adding the day of the week, since so many of us are having trouble figuring out what day it is.

It’s a little thing. For some, it seems to come each day as refreshment.

Is your refreshment a flower? A scent? Something you feel with your fingertips? Is it a melody or a bird call? Is it silence? Is it prayer? Refresh yourself, my friends, with a flower or a song or a deep, deep breath.

God is with us.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric