---

Smoky Seattle Skyline (Image Credit KOMO News)

LIVING IN HOPE
A message from The Rev. Rilla Barrett

Dear Friends,

On Tuesday morning, we all woke, after some gentle showers during the night, to the blessings of a slightly dampened earth and air that didn’t seem quite so thick with smoke.  My younger son, Gabriel, texted his siblings and me to say that, while he didn’t want to appear too hopeful, he could actually see the hills on the south side of the Skagit River from his home in Lyman once again.  And we all responded with LOL’s and a few photos taken from our own windows, all reflecting slightly less smoked-in air than they had been, and I added a few words about hope springing eternal.  

The smoke which has blanketed the Pacific Northwest, caused our eyes to water, irritated our bronchial passages, and made it inadvisable to spend much time outside (let alone go for a walk or work in the garden) has added to our growing isolation,  our ache for one another, and for life as we knew it, pre-pandemic. And the reasons for our reliance on masks have grown.  Not only do they protect others from viruses we might have, but now they might just protect us from the effects of air filled with the particulates from the forest fires.  And so, even when we are out, even in our yards and gardens, it is wise to be masked, just as we are in the grocery stories - which seems to me to be another form of isolation.  When I smile at folks over the bananas in the produce section, I wonder if they can tell by my eyes that I am smiling, wishing them well,  trying to connect.  And, in all of it, we remember and pray for those who have lost so much – homes and lives in both pandemic and fires.  It all seems so much especially without each other’s physical presence and support (Image credit: Chain Store Age).

Humor helps some.  My cousin, who lives in Berkeley, California, wrote to me about life there, about staying inside when the temperature outside was over 100, the sky an eerie orange, and folks around her worried about the power going off because of the abundant use of Air Conditioning.  She then added that she hears that the locusts were due in on Thursday, and I gave thanks for the smile her ever-present wit always brings to me. 

But, in it all, in pandemic, forest fires, Air Quality Indexes in the dangerous levels, and separation from our own precious people; in spite of the inability to take a walk or work in our garden, I have hope.  I have hope and, I believe that it is not ill-advised.  

In the epistle for Sunday, we read Paul’s words, written to the people of Philippi as he waited, imprisoned, facing capital charges.  Paul’s circumstances were dire, so this was not a place nor time to be taken lightly, for he faced real life or death outcome, but he challenged all who read those words to find joy and hope in the middle of the difficult moments of life. 

We often hear a gospel message preached in our world that seems to offer insurance against hard times and sets up misleading expectations that coming to Christ will promise us escape from life’s difficulties. But the gospel lesson is pretty clear. 

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) 

Paul’s words to the Philippians (and to us) in Sunday’s epistle is an invitation to focus on hope and to look for joy, even in the midst of the darkest moments of our lives.  There is nothing that says that our faith, our belief in God will protect us from harm and life’s difficulties, but everything in the gospel tells us that when difficulties come, God is present and walks with us in the darkness.  Take heart, have hope.   

You and I live in difficult times, but we are carried on by hope, and that is “to live with confidence in newness and fullness of life . . .” (BCP 861 “The Christian Hope”) Let us not forget to live with hope, continuing in our work to care for one another, even by a phone call or email.  Let us strive to continue our work to make the world better by living each day in that hope, with the knowledge that we walk, even in the darkness, with God, who is love.   

Faithfully,

Rilla+

---

BISHOP'S COMMITTEE
THIS SUNDAY 11:30am VIA ZOOM

---

Volunteers are welcome to "host" virtual coffee hour. Is this something you feel called to do?  Duties could include one or more of the following: 1) signing into the meeting 5 minutes prior and admitting folks to the Zoom meeting 2) serving as conversation facilitator and tech advisor as needed and/or 3) providing conversation questions or themes each week. Training and support provided. Contact myra@laughingflowerlabyrinth.com with questions or interest.