For Such A Time as This June 1, 2020 – Karen Haldeman

To the Good Folk of the Palmyra Church of the Brethren,

Help us celebrate Father’s Day!

We are putting together a Father’s Day slide show similar to but slightly different than our Mother’s Day tribute, as part of our virtual service.  You can help by sending us a:

• Video--Take a short video of yourself sharing a brief (one or two lines) memory or message about someone important to you.
• Photo--Send a photo of someone to add to the slide show (current or past photo)

Email or text your drawing or photo to Rachel at rwitkovsky@palmyracob.org by noon on Friday, June 19

Chalk the Lot!

You are invited to come to the church lot anytime to leave a message of love, hope, and positivity anywhere in our parking lot! And then walk around and see what others have left and spend a few moments in prayer for our church community. 

If you have chalk, feel free to bring your own! Otherwise, there are baggies of chalk in a container by the back door. Once used, please keep it as your own and bring it with you if you come back. 

Please remember that we are practicing social distancing. If others are in the lot, respect their space by keeping at least 6ft distance. Masks are requested as well. 

Joys and Concerns

If you have a joy or concern you would like us to share and pray about, please call, text or email it to Bill.  If you would like it included in our Sunday Worship sharing and prayer time, please share it with Bill that week by Friday morning

Thank You

To all who call others to check in on them and share our emails and devotions.

Today’s Devotion

I am thankful to Karen Haldeman for providing today’s devotion.  If you wish to respond to Karen directly, her email address is kbhaldeman@verizon.net. 

Shalom, Dennis

Scripture - Esther 4:14

Who knows? Perhaps you have come to royal dignity for just such a time as this.

Thoughts

Recently, Tim and I watched “Lord of the Rings,” a movie series based on the epic good-versus-evil fantasy books written by JRR Tolkien.  In the story, it falls to the lot of a simple, unassuming hobbit named Frodo to transport the Ring of Power into the enemy territory of Mordor in order to destroy it.  Early in his quest, Frodo becomes discouraged about the prospect of success and talks with his guide and mentor, Gandalf:

[Frodo] I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.

[Gandalf] So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world, Frodo, besides the will of evil.

These lines have long been some of my favorite from the story.  But as I heard them again the other day, I thought about how they sound in the face of COVID-19.  We certainly wish the virus had never come.  We wish none of this illness and fear and unemployment and upheaval and uncertainty had happened.

Even so, is Gandalf’s advice applicable today? Is it also our current task to do more than just wish this had never happened, but to “decide what to do with the time that is given to us”?  Can we trust the other, benevolent forces of good and health and wholeness and love that are at work in the world—even in the midst of this pandemic—as we go about our work, our routines of daily life, our new tasks of safety protocols and restrictions?

May it be so.

Prayer

Empower us, O God of power and love, to wisely choose what to do with the time that is given to us, even such a time as this.