Sacred Connections: "Yes!"

"Yes!"

In the midst of all the significant issues swirling around us, we can find ourselves caught up with concerns seemingly beyond our ability to respond. Feelings of powerlessness only add to that weight – and if you’re like me, also the weight I see increasing on my bathroom scale. There is much to be deeply concerned about around the world and on a national, state, and local level – be it on issues of violence, racism, justice, protest, the pandemic, unemployment just as a start. These are not abstract or distant for us as Christians who hear Jesus’ call to love our neighbor as ourselves. But, amidst all of the tumult, we can catch beautiful glimpses of individuals opening their hearts to each other and finding a way to say “Yes”. “I will do what I can.” “Yes".

I found myself deeply touched and inspired by a news story of a young African American man, seventeen-year-old, Jalen Thompson. Jalen felt compelled to respond to George Floyd’s violent death by calling forth a peaceful protest in his small community of O’Fallon, Missouri. This was the first protest Jalen had ever attempted to organize and what he expected to be 100 people turned into over 1500. Jalen and the police chief lead the protest, walking arm in arm.

Those who showed up to offer support mirrored the beautiful diversity of our land. Jalen said, “We all seem to understand that this is a problem that we need to solve so that we can move on and make our country even better.” The police chief readily joined in because he wanted “to support the cause.” Jalen had a desire to help and a vision, and he said “Yes!” and took action. The police chief answered with “Yes” in response. Those who shared that value and vision of peaceful protest for justice and unity showed up and joined in with their own very visible “Yes!"

Here at home, several of us on staff were talking about what will be needed when we do return to the church building, for people to feel comfortable and be safe. The idea of making face masks available quickly came forth. We are blessed to be a large and thriving congregation, and we estimated we would need about 1000 masks for adults. But how could we move from an idea to a number as daunting as that? The first “Yes” came from Liz Coley and Heather Krombholz who readily agreed to take the lead. Both had already been making many masks for others, but when asked, Heather’s response was, “We need to take care of our (church) family."

In a little over a week under Liz and Heather’s lead, fabric has been ordered, almost 20 volunteers have signed up, work descriptions, patterns, and an online tutorial have been created, communications are flowing, and intergenerational family members are happily involved. We’re only at the earliest beginning, but it’s a beautiful sight to behold, so many willing and helping hands wanting to support the physical health of our church community, wanting to say “Yes” to loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Finding that point of “Yes” can feel so inspiring and freeing! Many of us are still trying to figure out what our limitations are in this continuing time of concern regarding Covid-19. Our broader community is “re-opening” on many fronts, yet many are still sheltering in place or living under quarantine. Several have expressed concern for those who are in living situations that require more caution due to risk factors, or more restraints because of community living guidelines. The latter can be particularly challenging when people are new to a community and feeling cut off from their familiar sources of comfort and joy. Perhaps it’s particularly in those situations that we need to find places of “Yes” where we can still make a difference on a very personal level. It may be in the form of more frequent calls, notes, unexpected care packages, other creative ideas. Whenever we can say “Yes” to each other, “I’m thinking of you.” “I care.” we strengthen those beloved connections more than we might ever know.