He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

“Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.’ Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring.” James 4:13-14a.

The Church Council was in the process of updating our Congregational Five-Year Plan when this crisis descended upon the State of Washington. Everything was on the table: staffing, outreach, new programs, improvements to our facilities. What was not included in any of our previous Five-Year Plans was a complete shut-down of our campus. That shut-down happened on Friday, the 13th of March.

Many of us were in the process of planning weddings, baptisms, reunions, or birthday parties. Some had plans for grand trips, cruises, pilgrimages, or visits to see the grandkids. Several in our parish were in the process of retiring, our High School Seniors were anticipating graduation festivities, and our soon-to-be college graduates were planning on beginning their careers at a time of record low unemployment.

I think that it is safe to say that none of us had planned on being locked down, isolated, unemployed, distanced, unable to shake hands, share hugs, or go to Payless without a mask.

Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans. So, here we are, on the other side of Easter and still in the tomb of quarantine. The truth is, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring, or even if tomorrow will come. We only have today. Given the fact that we are up to our ears in lemons, I suggest that we just make lemonade. Make the best of today. Breathe deeper, walk in the sunshine, make more cookies, and give them away.

At a particularly trying time in my life and ministry, Paul Skinner wrote me a note of encouragement. Paul was in the Air Force in World War 2. He flew B-17’s in the European theater. He had five planes shot out from under him, and survived to tell about it. I still have the note he sent me. It read simply, “I read the last chapter. We win.”

We don’t know what the future will bring, but we know who holds our future. Every day, we are a day closer to the end of this crisis. Though apart, we are in this together.

My love to you!

Pastor Jim

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