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May we hold one another in our hearts as we face this global pandemic.
May we sense Loving Presence and Inextricable Connection in the midst of uncertainty.
May we practice compassion for ourselves and others.
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Council invites the Koinonia community to seek ways to stay connected and offer support to one another and the wider community. Council will be having weekly phone conferences to help coordinate communication. Please share your suggestions and concerns (contact information below).
Please continue to reach out to one another in a variety of ways. Ellen has already been contacting individuals and will help us create a “buddy system” for checking on one another.
The content of the newsletter will be evolving to include updates, joys and concerns, inspiration, and spiritual practices. We may also send additional email messages as needed. If you have joys and/or concerns that you would like to share in the newsletter, please contact Miranda or Ellen (contact information below). You are also invited to contribute sources of inspiration to the newsletter - perhaps readings or recordings that you’d like to share. Ellen will be sharing spiritual practices. If you don’t have access to a computer and/or would like to receive the newsletter by mail, please let us know.
Bonnie and Miranda are in the process of organizing messages that are currently on the website. More information on how to access those will be available soon. If you’d like to help, or contribute a new message, contact Bonnie.
For those who use Facebook, we are creating a private group, a gathering place for the GJ Koinonia Community members (current and past). May we consider this our online Koinonia Sanctuary - where we speak respectfully for ourselves. It’s intended to be a place to share gratitudes, inspiration, joys, concerns, thoughts/prayers... It can be a place to ask for assistance and respond with assistance as you are able.
Ellen, Miranda, Diane, Catherine, and Nela will still be serving Koinonia and can count on our financial reimbursement - though their responsibilities may be adjusted to address changing needs. Your donations/pledges can be mailed to Koinonia, 730 25 Road, Grand Junction, Colorado, 81505. We are grateful for their service and your generosity.
If you are wondering how you can volunteer or contribute, one resource is Help Colorado Now. The local April food drive sponsored by GIVN has been cancelled. Agencies that are distributing food are requesting financial contributions at this time. We can also include a volunteer section in the newsletter if you’d like to offer to deliver food or other services.
Take care and stay connected,
Koinonia Council (Deb Allerton, Stan McNeese, Dave Orton, Eric Rechel, Bonnie Van Camp)
council@koinoniagj.org; deballerton@gmail.com; srhandwsm@gmail.com; orton.reporting@gmail.com; ericarthurrechel@gmail.com; bonniejvancamp@gmail.com
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Pandemic
Rev. Lynn Ungar
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath-
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray. Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another's hands.
(Surely, that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart,
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love-
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
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