Dear People of St. James’,
The other day I was reading and responding to my much-increased cue of emails, and I came across a brief email from a parishioner which ended with “The Peace of the Lord be ALWAYS with you!” These words stopped me in my tracks. I have concluded many-an-email with “Peace,” but in the present moment, reading these words moved me to tears. These words, which I have said so many times, in that moment, made me feel embraced by a love that surpasses understanding, a love which I know because I know you, because we belong to each other.
We have only been unable to come together in our building for one week, but already, I miss saying these words and being swept up into the chaos of embrace that follows. This is something distinctive and beautiful about worship at St. James’: the way we seek peace with each other, our eagerness to welcome, to know and to be known. And, call me a nerd, but I would dare to say that the Peace is a sacramental act, an outward sign of a spiritual grace poured out by God when our community gathers together. We are a people who seeks to share the Peace of God.
This peace is so needed in this time of corrosive partisan division and blame-shifting. This peace is the yearning of our hearts in this time of our exile from our normal routines and places and ways of being a people. What else other than the peace of God can bring frightened human beings together in a time of adversity and scarcity for the good of one another? God has taught the people of St. James’ to share the peace for such a time as this, when it is exceedingly tempting to build high walls around our hearts and our resources for our own protection.
What does it mean to be a people who seeks to share the Peace of God in the present moment? I am new to this too, but I think that, just as the Peace is preceded by prayers for each other and for the world in the liturgy, it begins with holding each other and those whom we don’t know in prayer. Do you dare to let your hearts be vulnerable enough not only to hear about the lives of others through news reports and Facebook, but also to cherish hope for them? As you seek to reorder schedules thrown into disarray, take time to hope and pray for other people. Prayer with and for others makes it possible to move toward each other with hands and arms extended.
Even though we are not physically together, we can still offer expressions of embrace. I knew this and I did know this until I received that email. There are some words that we have been taught to offer to each other and to God that have such unforeseen power because of the memories they carry. Let’s use these words filled with sacred memory in our lives. Let us seek ways to share the peace by finding ways to stay connected, even if those ways are not your preferred modes of interaction. I have been thrilled by how many people have tried Zoom for the first time because they know we need to be together – to see and hear one another speak grace-filled words and to throw ourselves into participating in something together – even if it’s an experience mediated by screens and disrupted by technical quirks. Try some holy experiments during this time to stay connected and reach out to others who may be feeling isolated.
In the e-news, you will find a variety of holy experiments we are trying out to share the peace of God with each other. This may not be the “new normal”, but I believe we have entered a time that demands new things from us in terms of adapting and staying open to each other. Let us leave no one behind, standing alone in the back pew, as we continue to be a people who seek peace with one another and carry that peace into the world.
The peace of the Lord be always with you!
Rev. Eileen
