Greetings friends,
Again and again, we’ve articulated how difficult and disruptive this last year has been to our lives. We’ve weathered a lot, transitioned and changed a lot, and we are all certainly still in the space of reconfiguring what it means to do life together.
A significant part of our healing process is taking stock of our spiritual lives and reckoning with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our inner experience and outward service. You will hear me speaking a lot about this in the coming months, as it is evident to me that we are moving into a season where healing and repair are necessary.
The beauty is that we have practices that help us do this work. We have traditions of healing prayer, we have services of reconciliation, and we have opportunities for spiritual care.
What is “spiritual care?” I became acquainted term during my time as a volunteer hospital chaplain at St. Joseph’s here in Bellingham. Our hospital devotes a significant amount of resources to the Spiritual Care Department. Chaplains visit patients, host gatherings for prayer and healing, and educate the entire hospital community (staff, volunteers, patients, family) on the importance of seeking physical healing for what ails us and exploring the impacts of trauma and disruption on our faith. In the memory of St. Francis of Assisi, “where there is injury, pardon.” Spiritual care is about the pardoning, loving, nurturing of healing in our relationship with God.
As we head into the rest of the summer and the fall, I want to offer an invitation to us all to engage in practices of spiritual care and healing. Specifically, I want to remind us that my door is always open for pastoral counseling sessions and prayer with any of our community. I love doing spiritual care work. Perhaps you might not feel comfortable asking for the support or maybe think it is not worth troubling someone else with your needs. Please hear this: I want to support you. Your deacons want to help you. We all need care.
Here’s a simple way to get this conversation started: If you are interested in beginning some spiritual care and healing conversations with me, reply to this note, and we’ll set up a time to meet. We can explore what avenues you need to examine and see how God can guide our mutual healing and restoration together as co-disciples of Christ, journeying together in community.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Seth
PS: If you’re the kind of person who likes to look at the calendar on your own and pick a time, here’s a link to my Office Hours calendar, where you can see some of my availability: https://calendly.com/pastorseththomas/pastor-meeting There are more times than this that I can meet, but this may get us started.
