December 19 Update from Eliana Maxim & Scott Lumsden
Seattle Presbytery
“By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:78-79)
Dear friends,
In an Advent season like no other, we watch and we wait; for a Christmas morning that will be like no other, for the closing of a year unlike any we have ever known.
We could not have imagined 12 months ago that our lives would be turned upside down by a global pandemic. Let’s be honest: this has been a very difficult year for our congregations and church leaders, for everyone. We’ve had to rethink how to “do” church, yet in the process many discovered how to “be” church. We’ve had to be creative in how to stay connected, and in the process many found authentic community and companionship. We’ve had to admit we cannot do it all, and been overwhelmed with the gifts of collegiality, grace, and partnership.
In this most challenging year, we have been called to both deeply examine who we are, as well as commit more fully to God, each other, and our faith. In the seemingly endless mask-wearing-social-distancing-quarantining-disinfectant-slathering-zoom-exhausting days we have lived and have yet to endure, God’s tender mercy has broken through not once, but over and over again.
This Christmas season we invite you to acknowledge all those broken places you have had to sit in - waiting for a diagnosis, healing of broken body or mind, systemic injustices that refuse to surrender, reconciling of fragmented relationships, loneliness from not being with loved ones - and then make your way towards the dawn God has promised will break.
Unto us a child was born, and he was named Emmanuel, for indeed, God was, is, and will always be, with us. This is the mystery of our faith, the hope for the world that God chose to be with humanity in all its messiness and still love and redeem us.
Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones and may 2021 be gentle with us all.
Revs. Eliana & Scott Lumsden
Co-Executive Presbyters