Pastor’s Corner: Scary Days

January 13, 2021

Last Wednesday was a scary day. The images from the United States Capitol combined the terrifying with the bizarre. One moment I saw violent physical clashes between rioters and Capitol police officers. The next moment I saw light-hearted invaders walking between red velvet ropes.

One photo, taken when the Representatives had moved to a safe location, showed a Congresswoman offering face masks to some of her colleagues. They refused to wear them, even though the room was obviously smaller than the full chamber of the House of Representatives, making exposure to any virus, let alone COVID-19, much more likely.

Over the weekend, the House physician warned of likely exposure to COVID-19 during the insurrection. As of this Tuesday, three House members reported positive tests.

We had our own scare with COVID-19 in the last week as well. As I said during worship on Sunday, Doug and Shelly Albertson learned they had been exposed to COVID on Saturday. They quickly went to get tested, and late Sunday afternoon learned that the results were negative. They had not been infected, which comes as a great relief to all of us.

Even as vaccines make their way into our community, the risk remains. We still face some months of caution and precaution before we can be confident that the coronavirus is not circulating among us. Masks and distance will remain a way of life for us well into 2021.

May we follow the example of those who choose to protect themselves and their neighbors. May we reject the example of those who put others and themselves at risk.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric

Virus graphic by Brett Bigham – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=88908988.