Streams of Mercy

Psalm 36 was one of the lectionary texts for January 16, the day the snowstorm brought life to a standstill in many places, with Moore County being one of the areas hardest hit. The psalmist writes, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds … you save humans and animals alike, O Lord … O continue your steadfast love to those who know you!”

Now more than ever we need this reassurance. In the Jan-Feb ’22 issue of Presbyterians Today, Chip Hardwick’s article, “Be Assured, God is Still leading You” reminds us that God is at work in the changes the continuing pandemic brings.

We Presbyterians affirm that the church is “reformed and always reforming.” Hardwick reminds us of the conversations Christians have had through the centuries: “Can we invite Gentiles in? Can we speak the local language in Mass? Does a drum set belong on the chancel? And, as each question gets answered, a new season, marked by joy over the new things God is doing, and lament over what is gone, is heralded in … Over the past two years, the pandemic has taken the church’s notoriously slow-moving changes out of the crockpot and put them into the microwave.” All at once we entered a virtual reality, rethinking everything we ever did, with Zoom meetings, services on Facebook Live and You Tube; with “social distancing” and “masking” considerations and few opportunities for being together.

“As we move forward in 2022,” writes Hardwick, “it is still unclear what church will look like once the pandemic has moved into the rearview mirror. How will online and in-person ministry coexist? How will stewardship be impacted? What will be the best way to serve our neighbors? … Moving into a new season can be disconcerting, yet the church’s vitality depends on balancing our lament with hope and by living faithfully in a season of continued uncertainty. And when our fears and frustrations rise, let’s join the psalmist and pray, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds!”

Such faithful and encouraging words!

May they give us hope for the living of these days.

Elizabeth