Friends, we are at a point in this pandemic when we will begin to hear more and more of family and friends who will have contracted this virus. Many will do well, others will struggle, some will not survive. God have mercy. 

As the news comes in and gets closer and closer to home for us, may we remember these things: 

1. None of us is in this alone. Your church family, though physically distant, is spiritually connected with you in ways that few of us realize. Please contact the church office if you want us to remember you in prayer and especially if you want someone to contact you with information or care. 

2. Faith, hope, and love are not virtues that only apply in times of security and comfort. When the Apostle Paul wrote of them as chief virtues, it was a time when the early church was facing many struggles. Faith, hope, and love abide, and are far more powerful than our fears and insecurities. 

3. Every life is valuable. Some hospitals in New York are facing some of the ethical dilemmas that usually are only in theoretical textbooks – a shortage of necessary equipment and a plethora of needs. Even in tragic situations, we still need to say that every life is valuable. Some folks are worried about how an extended quarantine will affect the economy in the long run – and while many of those worries are wrong-headed aspirations to retain privilege, when the economy tanks the poor, the undocumented, and those who are barely hanging on are the ones who take the hardest blows. We will have to give our economic habits a thorough look when the worst of this pandemic is over. But, one thing we must say aloud and without condition: Every life is valuable. 

Meanwhile, most of us are not facing those ethical dilemmas, but are continuing to get accustomed to “Sheltering in Place.” We are probably losing some old habits that we ought to have lost anyway, picking up a few new habits that we may regret in the long run (mostly having to do with the refrigerator), and wondering what it will look like when we eventually get back to something like what we call “normal.” And while the market’s volatility and the stoppage of many businesses have had immediate impact on many folks, many others are not there yet and have been able to weather the impact fairly well so far. 

If you are able, here are some meaningful ways that you can do positive things during this time. 

- Of course, I invite you to continue your support of St. Mark, even as we continue to look at how our expenditures need to be adjusted during this crisis. 

- Homeless Shelters (you can find one in your town here) are in need of folks who can supply meals. One way to help is to offer to pay for a meal from a local business that is trying to survive my moving to catering, rather than in-house dining.  

- Cards and letters: Do you know of someone who is unable to visit their family? If you have time, a handwritten card or letter is a lovely gesture and gift. 

- Make masks. Some of our Care Team folks have found patterns and instructional videos that show how to make masks with replaceable filters. They are not up to the standards of what medical teams at Hoag might use, but they are very good for at home use, particularly if someone has a cold or other symptoms. 

With any of these ways of reaching out to others, please remember to wash your hands, avoid touching your face, cough into your elbow, and do everything you can not to spread any of your germs even through physical objects. 

St. Mark Worship

If you would like to view St. Mark's March 14 worship experience, click here.
Blessings,
MD

Flattening the Curve

I’m guessing that you have heard the phrase, “flattening the curve” recently. It refers to a diagram that was developed from a CDC paper projecting the effects of COVID-19. The solid purple curve shows anticipated effects if there is no mitigation. The striped curve shows anticipated effects if there is mitigation, such as washing hands, keeping social distance, and avoiding large-scale crowds. It is this bottom, longer curve that is intended by the phrase “flattening the curve.” (If you want to read the paper itself, it is here.)

In many respects, the presentation and accompanying graph were the kind of analyses that

are done many times over. But, something happened that changed this analysis from being the domain of a small group of experts into becoming a catchphrase. Dr. Drew Harris, a population health analyst at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, added a critical marker to the graph, based on his experience with epidemic and pandemic cases. Harris drew a dotted line that showed the capacity of the US healthcare system, “to make clear what was at stake.”[1] 

It is incumbent upon people of faith to do what we can to “flatten the curve.” But, that approach flies directly in the face of our customary way of making decisions based primarily (if not solely) on the question of our own self-interest or our family’s self-interest. Flattening the curve requires a “neighbor-first” mentality, precisely the kind of mentality that we try to cultivate as followers of Christ.

Of course part of me is thinking, “This feels like an overreaction!” From my time in Iowa I was accustomed to cancellation decisions during a heavy snowstorm because the roads were hazardous. This is a very different case: I feel fine; you feel fine; we’re out and about; our children are busy licking the very surfaces we’re trying to sanitize – it would be easy to dismiss precautionary cancellations, even to belittle them. And, for reasons that I find puzzling beyond measure, the whole response to COVID-19 has been politicized from many different directions. 

Even so, a faithful response in times of unknowing is to consider the least, to bear patiently with those who feel differently from us, and to do the best that we can with trust that God gives us the right wisdom for the right moment. 

For that reason, St. Mark will not have gathered worship services this weekend. We will host a Facebook Live worship service on Saturday at 5:00 p.m., and we will try to capture it for our web site, which you can access any time on Sunday. And, as usual, your Staff and Session are working to be faithful and wise in moving forward. 

---

[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/science/coronavirus-curve-mitigation-infection.html

EPIC Lent: Why Do We Do What We Do?

I mentioned during our Young Church time last week that, in our home, we always precede a family meal by taking hands and saying a prayer. Sometimes we might freestyle it, but usually we say a blessing that we’ve learned to say together through the years. We even follow this practice when we have guests. It’s what we do. 

I’m a bit of a dork, but I like to think I’m not a fool. I have no doubt that whenever I’m closing my eyes during this prayer there are other eyes that are either peeked open or fully open. And, at different points along everyone’s faith journeys, I’m sure there have been times when those open eyes were rolling at how ridiculous this family ritual is. Sometimes the prayer has been spoken, other times muttered, other times mute. And, there are many occasions when I catch myself thinking about something other than what I’m saying in that moment, even though it often falls to me to kick the prayer off. We’re not always fully engaged in this family ritual. 

Nevertheless, we persist. 

Why? Why do we continue to do something knowing full well that not everybody is fully on board? Isn’t that the epitome of an “empty, meaningless ritual”? 

Taken in isolation, yes, I suppose the ritual is empty and meaningless for the person who is rolling their eyes or muttering reluctantly. But, the nature of rituals is that they are not isolated incidents. They are rituals, repeated acts the meaning of which is as embedded in their repetition as it is in the words or gestures themselves. 

We do this ritual, even when it can be meaningless and empty on occasion, because we strive to be thankful people. We strive to acknowledge grace, to be receptive, and to appreciate the invisible giftedness of community. If we take a moment every time we sit together for dinner and acknowledge how blessed we are to have this gift of food, perhaps we would never be the kind of folks who pretend to be self-made independent, atomistic people. Perhaps we will always see ourselves as part of a larger, abundant world. And, when that thankfulness is directed toward God, perhaps we will ever see ourselves connected to a world that is much larger than our immediate surroundings. Peeking or no peeking, we need that ritual to become who we are.

Throughout this EPIC Lenten season, we’re paying attention to the Experience, Practice, and Identity Circle that shapes us. Sometimes it is made up of what feel like “empty, meaningless rituals” – worship each week, daily prayer, giving generously of time, treasure, and talent, advocating for peace and justice, working on our privilege blinders, and expanding our inclusivity circles. Sometimes we say the same things over and over: God is great, God is good; you are a beloved child of God; good overcomes evil; love overcomes hate; do justice, love kindness, walk humbly. It is not the case that these acts and words are only genuine if you feel them deeply in your heart 100% of the time. In fact, sometimes when we feel them the least is when we need them the most. 

Mark of St. Mark