Grace Cathedral
We journey through Lent, now as we shelter in place in San Francisco and wherever you may be. The Rev. Anna Rossi shares her insight, reminding us of eternal hope and going back to the basics, as we navigate unexpected circumstances together.
This time is being described with a torrent of superlatives. They are not inaccurate. But for every unprecedented event or era, there is also [some] precedent.
The Exodus, the Black Plague and the Spanish Flu. In more recent memory, the AIDS epidemic, and the Ebola epidemics and world health emergencies in West Africa and Congo sickened many and took many lives, in contexts with far fewer resources than we have.
And through all of these, people of all kinds live faithfully. So today, faith in God is our Hope; not only God out there and beyond, but the Incarnate God who is always and everywhere present, working through ordinary people like us. Faith in God is our hope, and faith is also our teacher.
But I have to make room to learn. When things get (really) complicated, I go back to basics. Words of mostly one syllable that I can hold it one hand: Eat. Sleep. Pray. Move. Connect. In this time, I might add: quarantine the phone for at least 30 minutes per day.
Join me in living faithfully with COVID-19.
Love, Anna
make us glisten with the baptism of rebirth;
without Bread, satisfy us with spiritual food;
without Wine, let us taste your sweet presence.
Nourish us in this Lenten desert
until at last we feast in the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Amen.