Reflection: Lent 4, March 22, 2020
COVID-19 Livestreaming Worship
I’ve been searching out words of hope and encouragement and have found a number. I want to share one of those inspirational reflections with you this evening.
I subscribe to an online newsletter from the Rolling Ridge Study Retreat Community. It is a wonderful community of 5 families living near Deer Spring Creek near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. They provide a retreat opportunity for pilgrims arising out of a Quaker tradition. They welcome folk from every spiritual tradition, and as if says on their website, we welcome all “who seek to walk gently on the land, mindful of our interdependence with all living beings in this peaceable kingdom and respectful of each other’s age, gender, colour, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, cultural identity, and all the nuances of diversity that infuse our common humanity.”[1]
Lindsay McLaughlin wrote a piece about Hope that she shared on the Rolling Ridge website and I share it with you because I was very moved by it. She refers to spring as a symbol of hope for us; the spring where Lindsay is located is a little ahead of us and this piece was written a week ago. This is what she wrote:
The vernal equinox is a handful of days away, announcing the astronomical beginning of spring. On a morning last week, as dawn chased the darkness from the forest’s edge, the moon was a glowing, golden plate resting on the western horizon. Tiny purple crocuses peeked up through pale brown grasses. Bright daffodils nodded on slender stems. Lacy green fronds adorned the old willow stump. On the edge of winter and spring, the moon, stars, and sun grandly and reliably »»
the neighbourhood; handicapped parking and access to the church office is at the rear of the building.
