Sacred Connections: Encounters
Last week we were saddened to hear of the death of a beloved member of our church family, Janice Lubin. Janice was the embodiment of a “people person”. She had such love for her husband and best friend, Gary, her children and vast family, and her many, many friends, especially at Church of the Redeemer. In a conversation with one of those friends, Les McNeill, I asked, “How did you and Janice meet?” Her response was immediate, “On the front steps of Redeemer.” That impromptu meeting, aided by Les’ mother, marked the start of a deep and enduring friendship spanning their adult lives. A friendship filled with laughter, adventure, appreciation for each other, and the immeasurable comfort they felt in each other’s presence during very difficult times. Little did they know the precious gift they were receiving in that first encounter on the front steps of Church of the Redeemer.
How many of us have made deep and loving friendships through Church of the Redeemer? It might not have been an encounter on the church steps, but a first meeting while serving in Interfaith Hospitality Network (IHN) together. It might have been getting to know someone during preparations for Sunday worship with the Altar Guild, Flower Guild or one of our music ministries. It might have come through listening to each other’s thoughts and questions in a Bible Study, Theology Circle, a Family Ministry or Second Half gathering. Jesus calls us – and we show up. When we show-up we encounter our siblings in Christ, and in getting to know each other, we may find an invitation to a deeper connection, a sacred connection with each other and with God.
This may sound nostalgic, thinking about the old days of only six months ago and literally being on the church steps. Or it may sound like wishful thinking, dreaming of the possibilities of a future time. But in these very days, these very strange times, Church of the Redeemer church life is still going on, still giving us the opportunity to show up, participate, be with each other even if these days it’s mostly through an image on a small screen. As Zoom-fatigued as many may be, there is still excitement in seeing familiar and new faces, there is fresh energy when we have the opportunity to talk about subjects related to our theology, living our faith, exploring our values, and supporting each other’s well-being.
As we continue to search for ways to support each other during these challenging times, one of our new offerings is our Optimizing Brain Health series. This topic feels particularly timely given the mental challenges of our current circumstances with the pandemic and the adjustments forced by it. Sometimes it just helps for us to receive new information, hear each other’s questions, and voice aloud concerns. Our new program year offers so many wonderful offerings, and each is an opportunity for a new conversation, and perhaps a new connection or renewal of an already treasured one.
And there are still those wonderful impromptu face-to-face encounters while physically distancing of course. Several of our neighborhood group connectors reported their delight in having a live encounter when delivering the Church of the Redeemer facemasks. Anna Calhoun shared her experience of meeting a Church of the Redeemer neighbor she had not been able to contact before, and the significance of the conversation between them that perhaps opened some new doors. Anna closed with, “This just felt like exactly what this ministry was meant to facilitate, and it was a real blessing to me.”
Our Eucharistic Visitor Ministry is hoping for the blessing of some individual encounters as well. Their traditional ministry has been to bring Eucharist from our Sunday service to individuals unable to be at church. During this time, Eucharistic Visitors will begin bringing small bouquets from the Flower Guild’s Sunday service arrangement, to those who may be experiencing illness or are less able to leave their homes. We hope these bouquets may lift spirits and be a sign of our unity with each other, our love for each other. We hope at times there’ll be the opportunity for a brief face-masked encounter be it a wave from a balcony or physically distanced outside on a porch.
In our individual circumstances ranging from feelings of isolation to being over-crowded, from feeling empty to overwhelmed, and everything in between, it’s hard to know what comfort looks like, how to be a comfort for one another, how to receive comfort for ourselves. Yet God has made us family, siblings in Christ. We never know what word, what brief encounter, what shared thought, what act of kindness might be the beginning of a connection we will treasure all our lives.
