April 2 Reflection (Thanks to Betty!)
Scroll down to find a reflection from our own Betty S!
My social media feeds have been full of very wise thoughts about what it means to find ourselves in the unchartered waters of a pandemic in the season of Lent, preparing to celebrate Easter with physical distancing. Three I thought were particularly great:
https://time.com/5808495/coronavirus-christianity/
Retired bishop and biblical scholar, NT Wright writes in Time magazine about the role of God in crisis and illness.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/temple-of-zoom/
“Temple of Zoom” by a rabbi is a great reflection on how it feels to suddenly have your life lived in a zoom meeting and the reality of forming community by video conference.
https://brenebrown.com/ I think Brene Brown’s work is pretty amazing and she’s doing some really interesting stuff about how crisis and pandemic evokes our collective vulnerability. When I have a little bit more space in my brain for deeper, longer thinking, I want to start here.
Many of our nearby (and quite distance) fellow Anglicans are doing incredible work sharing prayer and worship online – as are Christians of all denominations. Some places you might want to check out include:
https://www.facebook.com/taize
The monks of Taize in France are livestreaming Evening Prayer. Their style of simple, repetitive and meditative worship music is popular worldwide. We use some of their music in our worship from time to time. Evening prayer in France is, of course, not quite our evening, but the livestream remains available for later viewing via their Facebook page (you should be able to follow the link and view the video without a Facebook account).
https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps
The Church of England has several apps for your smartphone or tablet available. These include one Pastor Ruth uses regularly, Daily Prayer, which includes Morning, Evening, and Compline services for each day. There’s also Time to Pray which offers structure for a single daily prayer time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivkLTqkiWjc
The Godly Play Foundation has available on YouTube a number of Godly Play stories, including this one on the mystery of Easter. Although developed for children, this Montessori influenced story-telling method is a great way for all ages to sink into a biblical story or a theme in the church’s life. Every time I “wonder” about something in a sermon, it is because of Godly Play’s approach to reflecting on the stories of our faith and tradition.
Untitled from Ruth Monette on Vimeo.