![]() |
And boom! Summer finally arrived in WNY. The Pause is slowly un-Pausing. And it seems like we are at the beginning baby steps of the “new normal.” (Some of the “old normal” will still hang around, like the 6 yards of mulch that will get dumped in my driveway tomorrow that won’t magically move itself around the yard, self-spreading into the beds. Boo) One of the other pieces that I hope you are still holding tight to from the “old normal” is God’s unbreakable love for you. Just you. Because you’re you. Not because of your work, or your effort, or your title, or your pedigree, or your tribe, but just because you are you. All this Coronaness can make us forget that. Masks blocking smiles and compassion. Disconnection from relationships. Distance from social gatherings or work places or sacred spaces or rest places. We can get knocked out of center and as the dose exposure to these viral times increases, the memories and belief of our own self-worth and God’s love for us can fade. Let them fade no longer people! Because you are simply an amazing child of God! Want to remember that? Splash water on your face – and remember you’re a baptized child of GOd. Squirt a hose on someone in the yard this weekend – and remind them they are a baptized child of God. Run outside in the raindrops, like a scene out of Shawshank Redemption – and remember you’re perfect in the eyes of God. Thursday at 10am this week, we’re going to baptize Nathaniel Sileo. Danny Sileo (who was our intern at St. Paul’s a few years back) and his wife Mary Grace are moving to Virginia and want/need to have their son baptized before they go. So the new normal of CoronaBaptismalProtocol was created! Masks, distance, small groups – none of it can stop God’s powerful waters from washing over this kid! Godparents on FaceTime. And YOU are invited to be the congregation as we will stream this on St. Paul’s Facebook Live. New normal is slowly arriving. But we know some of the old normal is still profoundly here. Waters STILL pour. God STILL welcomes. Community STILL affirms and prays. And each of us are STILL worthy to be loved by God. Lord, let that love STILL flow. Amen Still in One Peace, PS |