August 27 Update from Scott Lumsden

Dear Friends,

I'm beginning to read articles that talk about what is being termed the Great Resignation -- people who have had a chance to reassess their lives during these long 18 months of pandemic and are deciding to quit their current jobs (and look for another, or do something else entirely). Though I am not among that group, I may be a member of another group -- the Great Disappointment.

These are folks who begrudgingly accepted the reality of the pandemic in the hopes that a vaccine would be found -- and once that vaccine was implemented, we thought we'd return to some sense of normalcy in the fall. "Welp. Not so fast," says the Great Disappointment, "I've got news for you -- the only normalcy you're going to get is more masks, distancing and quarantines."

I do still hold out some hope that this fall will be better than last fall, but I'm steeling myself for disappointment.

Though I have no doubt folks will rally in the coming months and make the right decisions, I am concerned about our overall emotional well being as a community. Constant adjustment to this pandemic is sapping our energy both individually and collectively and we're going to have to find more creative ways to take care of one another for some time longer than we expected.

Patience and persistence in doing the good thing will be the challenge this fall. But I'm sharing this message from Bruce Reyes-Chow in order to shed some light on the complexities we're all up against this fall.

Yet, in spite of it all, I know there's light somewhere in this tunnel: "We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body." (2 Corinthians 4:7-10)

Peace,

Rev. Scott Lumsden
Co-Executive Presbyter