As we learn how to adjust our lives given the reality of the coronavirus and the request to do our part to slow its spread by practicing social distancing, I invite you to join me each week to take a moment to cultivate a ‘habit of grace.’ A new meditation will be posted on Mondays through May. These meditations can be watched at any time.
In Luke’s Gospel, in the sixth chapter, Jesus says this,
Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
It may seem strange to suggest it, but even in times of hardship, even in times when our hearts are heavy, sometimes, finding something to be glad about and maybe something to laugh about can actually help. Now, you can’t fake it, but sometimes it can help.
I think of times in my own family when we have attended family funerals, and after the funeral, there’s usually some kind of repast. And no matter how sad the journey to death has been or how painful it has been, when the family would gather around, folk would start telling stories, sometimes, stories about the deceased, sometimes, just family stories. There would be the sound of laughter and moments of joy even in the midst of grief and sorrow.
There’s a bishop in the Diocese of Western North Carolina named José McLoughlin. And Bishop José has, for the last five or six weeks, been publishing on YouTube, Quarantine with Bishop José. It will bring some gladness, some laughter, some sense of joy even in the midst of this difficult time of pandemic. That there is a time to weep, as Ecclesiastes says, and there’s a time to laugh. So, maybe a little exercise for this week will be to go to YouTube, find Quarantine with Bishop José, and add that or something else to your list of things that bring gladness.
God love you. God bless you. And you keep the faith.
—The Most Reverend Michael Curry,
Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church
Church of the Redeemer
Welcome to Church of the Redeemer: Worshiping God, living in community, and reaching out to the world. We are an Episcopal Church serving north King County and south Snohomish County, Washington. As you travel your road, go with friends walking the way of Jesus at Redeemer.
Church of the Redeemer is at 6220 Northeast 181st Street in Kenmore, Washington. The campus is a short distance north of Bothell Way, near the Burke-Gilman Trail. The entrance looks like a gravel driveway. The campus is larger on the inside than it is on the outside. And we managed to hide a large building on the side of a hill that is not easily seen from the street.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.