Last week, I received an email from a colleague – a pastor of another ELCA congregation. The pastor asked what Ascension was planning for Christmas. I replied, “Christmas? We are wondering what we are doing next week.” There is a little bit of sarcasm and a whole lotta truth in my reply to my colleague. Of course, Ascension staff and leadership are already talking about November and December and January. We have had more conversations that I can count around the topics of All Saints Day, the season of Advent, Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. What a journey we continue to walk. As a person of faith, I have decided that these pandemic days are more marathon than sprint, more pilgrimage than destination. And so here we are.

It is October. And as we move into the fall, I am reminded that for those of us who live in the northern hemisphere, nature is beginning to share with us that the end of another growing season is upon us. Gardens are ending their life cycle, flowers that bloomed in the spring and summer are turning to seed and preparing for winter. Slowly nature is preparing us for death – for the end of another cycle of birth and growth and life as winter slowly begins to creep into the overnight temperatures. The colors of the trees burst with one last breath of vibrant joy before they let go of their leaves and turn inward for their survival. I wonder if you can find similarities in your own lives. The pandemic has been a pilgrimage of faith. Like Jesus pushed into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit, we have found ourselves pushed into a pandemic. Unexpected, unanticipated, unwelcome – we have found ourselves living new lives and learning new ways of literal survival. And so here we are.

Last year at this time, we were welcoming a delegation of visitors from our sister parish of Samaria in Usa River, Tanzania. Pastor Nathan Makenge spent time among us, preached in worship, learned about the Milwaukee Brewers, and celebrated the continued building of relationships between our two faith communities. This year, we have already missed out on the gift of a delegation from El Salvador. We left JOLT Adventure Camp and CRASH Mission Trips in the dust of the category of “TBD due to the pandemic.” Many of you have canceled vacations, celebrations, and anniversaries. We have struggled to find meaningful moments of support and community in the midst of loss and celebration. One of the most striking losses for me has been the loss of communal song. I have missed the words of “Jesus Christ is Risen Today” and “I Know that My Redeemer Lives.” And I was heartbroken to not hear the sounds of voices surround me in a moment of grief, where the words to “Lift High the Cross” and “Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds” would bring promise of resurrection joy from the hearts and voices of those gathered to my own weary soul. I miss watching all of you walk to the altar for communion. I miss children’s sermons. I miss the smiles that are hidden behind masks. There is so much that I miss as this pilgrimage continues. And yet I have hope.

I have hope that singing “I Love to Tell the Story” sometime in mid-September on the worship recording brought someone a moment of joy. I have hope that the celebration of Pastor Tony’s ordination will carry the community of Ascension long into the pilgrimage ahead. I have hope that our continued wandering through many opportunities and new things, if only once or twice, will inspire and engage and reveal the promise of God’s resurrection hope and joy to weary hearts as this pilgrimage continues. And continue it will. We have a lengthy journey ahead. Politics and elections aside, I believe the science will only discover as it will – through the rigorous methods that have proven the truth of nature time and time again. Yes, we could get lucky – and a miracle may come. We might be so lucky as to enjoy a scientific discovery that surprises everyone just as penicillin entered the world. In the late 1920s, bacteriology professor Alexander Fleming returned to his messy laboratory after a 2-week vacation. He began sorting through petri dishes containing colonies of Staphylococcus. On one of the dishes with colonies, he noticed a mold growing with the zone around it being completely clear. The mold was determined to be Penicillium notatum, which excreted a substance later isolated and used therapeutically as penicillin. We could only hope and pray for such a discovery. Regardless this pandemic will be more pilgrimage for awhile longer. And yet I have hope.

I have hope in your strength. Your emails, your letters, your phone calls, your text messages, your generosity of gifts to the church. There is strength in community – in our worship and in our communion. In our shared faith and our communal care for our neighbor. Yes, we will be on this pilgrimage for awhile still and God will continue to be with us because that is what God promises to us. God promises us to be present when we are in community and when we are alone. God promises us life even in the midst of death. So even as we enter into the fall and end of the season of growth and life, in death we will find promise – the promise of resurrection hope – the promise of new life – the promise of resurrection joy. My friends – the days are surely coming says the Lord…but for now: wash your hands, wear your mask, and add your prayers to my own for the days ahead. You are missed. You are loved. You are not alone.

Thanks be to God!

Pastor Chris

Reprinted from the October 2020 newsletter.