Wilderness: Unexpected Connection
Like the woman at the well, it is all too easy to isolate ourselves. And yet, as we face a lockdown because of this COVID Pandemic, we have to do some of that now. This is why it is more important than ever to reach out to one another over the coming weeks and months.
Reaching our can be hard when we are supposed to stay inside, refrain from shaking hands and giving hugs, quarantine ourselves if sick. Reaching out can be hard when school is cancelled, events are cancelled, when you have to work from home. Reaching out can be hard when the shelves are empty and the price are inflated.
It was hard for Jesus and the Samaritan woman as well. You see, they were not only from different cultures, they were from opposing cultures. The fact that they talked at all was shocking. They had every reason to avoid one another. Every reason to despise one another. Every reason sit alone in the solitude of their wilderness journeys. Jesus on his way to the cross and the woman on her way to the well in shame.
But Jesus finds a way to reach out. And the woman reaches back just enough to connect. Jesus draws her in. And she allows herself to be drawn. And in the midst of the wilderness around Jacob’s well, these two come together. A woman is saved. And Jesus message is spread.
Perhaps the wilderness is not a place of loneliness, but a place of unexpected connection.
And that is what we are gonna need a lot of over these next few weeks of wilderness and isolation: Unexpected Connection.
- Worship is going to get creative!
- All groups and activities that are scheduled to take place inside the Hood MCC building which include more than 6 persons should find alternative ways to gather that do not involve the in-person meetings within the church building effective Tuesday, March 17. We will suspend our small groups face to face meetings on a week to week basis.
- The Church Board and Pastors will make decisions about future worship times and building use on a week to week basis in order to take advantage of the latest and most current information available. Instead of our regular face to face activities, we will do several unexpected endeavors to create connections.
- Pastors Joanie and Jason will host a Daily Prayer Gathering via Conference Call through which we will share joys and concerns, pray for one another and our community, offer encouragement, connect those in need to resources, and share the latest and best information regarding the COVID-19 Coronavirus.
- Create a Support System through which persons connected to our church family can share resources and needs.
- Encourage persons who are in a high-rise group (specifically those over 65 years of age, those who have a chronic respiratory condition, and those who have an autoimmune disease) to stay at home and allow persons within our church family who are under 50 years of age to assist with errands outside the home.
- Promote Online Giving to support the above actions and our ability to offer benevolence in our community.
During a time such as this, we can be the church in powerful ways! We are praying for God’s guidance and healing through the current COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. We believe that the 7 actions above are part of God’s call and response back to us. So, let us together join hands with God by being the Body of Christ in a world afflicted by the current coronavirus pandemic. We shall love God! We shall love one another! We shall overcome!