Dear friendsGreetings to you. I hope you are continuing to enjoy the lovely weather we are having at the moment.
It would be wonderful if everyone could agree on some very basic things. Like, we can not use racial slurs. And no, we should not judge a person for their background, gender or their sexual orientation. It would be wonderful if nobody littered, if people did not blast music at 2 AM, if we observed some standard rules of civility for behaviour in public. It would be wonderful if everyone wore a mask and socially distanced as much as possible until we beat the pandemic that is killing hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.Obviously we are not there. Not everyone can agree on these things, apparently. The line from the film Cool Hand Luke stands eternal: Some men you just cannot reach.It does not matter how eloquent we are, how many times we explain it, how “right” we are, nothing will change the truth of that sentiment. We can talk until we are blue in the face, but they will just keep on doing whatever they want. Because a world without selfish or ignorant or unreachable people is impossible, for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).What is worse if we are not prepared for it is that from time to time, we are going to bump into those people. Can we come to terms with that? Or are we going to let this drive us crazy? Is it going to make us bitter? Or can we be happy reaching the people we can reach, happy standing on the common ground with the selfless folks who are willing to gather with us there?And who knows, maybe eventually, belatedly, the others will come around. Whether they do or do not, however, is not in our control, as we surely well know by now. So we can not worry about it.I attach
1. The service for Sunday
2. An brief essay about the effects of the pandemic on mental health.
3. Another brief reflection on the modern quest for pleasure.
Happy reading!
The Zoom details for Sunday’s service are:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82267268110?pwd=TEdLeUxsWVVyWmpOcDhoclF4YUV0dz09
Meeting ID: 822 6726 8110
Passcode: 096045
Blessings and stay safe.
Fr. Rodney