One year ago, the coronavirus was identified in Washington State.  Little did we know as the news reports rolled out that life as we know it would be changed significantly.  As we grudgingly acknowledge the anniversary, we also recognize that we are deep in the middle of winter. The time of year that is cold, dark and bleak.  The days are a bit longer, but darkness still comes early. We rush to the windows to catch the fleeting glimpses of the sun.

This week a young bright light shined in a dazzling yellow coat.  Amanda Gorman, youth poet laureate, shared her inspirational inauguration poem, “The Hill We Climb”.  She concluded her poem, with:

When the day comes we stop out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid
The new dawn blooms as we free it
For there is always light,
If only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it

We may feel that we are in the darkness of a very long winter As people of faith we believe that there is always a light in the darkness. “For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” ( 2 Corinthians 4:6)

Our challenge is to be brave to see it and be it.  We have come along way through the liminal season we call the pandemic.  Planning to go back to way the way we did church before the pandemic will not move you through it, only hold you in place.  We have come so far that going back may not be possible.

Brave is to look towards the light of where God is leading us in mission and ministry. Brace is to plan and creatively imagine what can and will be. Now is the time to be brave and set our direction toward the light.