Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and put a new and right spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from your presence,
and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and sustain in me a willing spirit.
Psalm 51: 10-12
It’s been a year. A whole year. It’s been a year since COVID-19 disrupted our lives. And it’s been a daunting and difficult year. Create in me a clean heart, O God…
If you’re like me, at first the masking and stay at home orders seemed like a temporary inconvenience. Soon, very soon, we would return to the way we were. Time passed. Soon, hopefully, we will be able to end this. More time passed. And the reality that this truly is a pandemic, a life-threatening, even culture-threatening world-wide, world-changing pandemic sunk in. We realized, not soon. Not back to normal. We even wondered what normal might mean in the future. We prayed. … and put a new and right spirit within me.
Of course, we rallied. We learned new ways to connect and communicate. Zoom and other media platforms became our lifeline to our ministries and our connections to each other. When we could no longer worship together, we figured out how to record and post worship in a variety of ways and we became creative in how we planned and led worship. We held small groups and bible studies and meetings online. Pastoral care changed to telephone and facetime and other means of connecting. We learned and tried new things. We prevailed. Do not cast me away from your presence…
And we faced other crises of racism and rallying around Black Lives Matter, of deaths and debilitating illnesses, of deep divisions around politics, of the struggling economy, loss of jobs and homes and insurance, and on and on the list goes. And we struggled. And we learned new ways of coping. And we devised new ways of supporting one another in our churches and communities. And we kept going as well as we could. We have been challenged and fractured by the many issues we were facing. We are exhausted. … and do not take your holy spirit from me.
Still, we have hope. We have vaccines. We have new skills and techniques for meeting and working and worshiping together which have stretched us and will influence and inform how we do ministry in the future. Even in the midst of frustration and exhaustion, we continue to connect and support one another, we continue to reach out and serve in the name of Christ, we continue to turn to God in faith. We know God’s grace. We care. Restore to me the joy of your salvation…
It's been a year. A whole year. And as daunting and difficult as it has been, no matter what has happened, God has been with us all along. No matter what will happen, God will be present with us and will continue to guide us and hold us and enfold us with hope and love. We trust in God. …and sustain in me a willing spirit.
With the psalmist, we pray: Create in us clean hearts, O God, and put a new and right spirit within us. Do not cast us away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from us. Restore to us the joy of your salvation, and sustain in us a willing spirit. Amen.