Through Thorny Ways

 now that there are several vaccines available and it appears that there is an end in sight to the sort of life the pandemic has forced on us, my thoughts have turned to what "normalcy" might mean on the other side of this scourge.  one of the constants of my life has been the regulation of each week that is brought about my attending church each sunday.  that has always been a way of determining where i am in the week.  during the time we have spent away from church, i've had to re-examine the reasons i have continued to attend every sunday service through most of my life.

as a child, my family was always in church on sunday mornings.  we went first to sunday school and then on to the worship service.  once i went away to college, i continued the practice of attending church regularly.  wherever i was, even if it was spending the summers with my grandmother between regular college semesters, i attended church.  after my wife and i married, we were in church every sunday.  after we had been married a couple of years, i began to work as a professional musician for a series of churches, so of course i had to be in church each week, usually several times a week.  when our daughter came along, she was raised attending church, as was our son when he was born ten years later.  i tried retiring from church work a year after i retired from public school teaching but found that i was called back into service off and on because of the shortage of available musicians who are willing to work for the meager wages churches pay.  even now that i'm in my seventies, i find myself filling in at a nearby church that is in need of someone to play the services.

i agreed to do this during the pandemic because the church assured me that i could self-isolate behind the organ console in the chancel as the congregation, which is quite small, practiced every precaution to protect themselves and me.  i've found that they are true to their word.  since there are few attendees relative to the size of the room, social distancing is no problem, and everyone in attendance is careful to wear masks.  the room is thoroughly sanitized frequently.  i've felt quite safe helping them out a couple of sundays a month.  i suppose i will continue to play for them as long as they need me and as long as i am able.

i've found during the enforced absence of every-week church and the accompanying activities in which we participated since moving here--mid-week church suppers and classes afterwards, sunday school, and a senior luncheon once a month--the thing i've missed most about church is the social aspect of it.  i've discovered that i have continued to attend church, not because of a compulsion to pay homage to a God whose presence i feel during most waking moments nor in gratitude for the many blessings i enjoy, but rather because i love being a part of a group of people whom i would not otherwise come to know outside of church.  for the most part they are good and generous people who are concerned about one another's welfare and the plight of others near and far.  together this body of churchgoers contributes much to our community, staffing a warming center during the cold nights of the winter season in conjunction with several other churches, providing food for the community food bank, giving monetary assistance to those in desperate circumstances, and helping to fund several worthy national and world-wide causes.

i miss visiting with our pew-mates, an older couple who grew up in this area.  i miss sitting at table on wednesday nights and at the monthly senior luncheon with friends we've made since becoming a part of this church.  i miss the organ music at the beginning and end of the service.  i miss the taking of communion with others who are present.  i miss the habitual preparation for and going to and from the service each sunday.  i look forward to the time when we can return to this familiar ritual and hope that the day will soon come when we can resume gathering each sunday morning.

may we soon rediscover what normalcy is and what it means in our lives.  may we stay safe and free of infection from this awful virus until that time comes.  may those of us who are unfortunate enough to catch the virus be returned to health with little suffering from it and no long-term harm.  may we do whatever we can to help one another while we struggle against covid.  may we find new ways of looking at our lives during this pause in our normal daily routine.  shalom.