As we near the date of reopening at St. Paul’s and Ordinary Life (June 6, 2021), we are reflecting on what this year has been like. All of the sudden it feels both too soon and not soon enough that we are going to be in person together again. On the one hand, our Ordinary Life community is a balm, a salve, whether in person or virtual we love connecting with you all. On the other hand, there is still so much that feels unresolved and ungrieved, and there is not a ‘normal’ to return to.

We are interested in creating moments and messages of hope and healing as well as space for grief and fear. We hope Ordinary Life can be a space where we can lean into all of it. I hope we can practice, together, a kind of theology of living life, of being with what is. And I hope we can grope our way forward, not back to what was, but into a new way of being. We will, at times, be unsteady on our feet, clammy in the hands, but we will forge it together. If we take Jesus’ message seriously, we will lock arms, look into each others’ eyes, and reveal ourselves and each other to the world. If nothing else, Jesus taught us to really see, to look fearlessly into the faces of everyone else and move forward with crazy, fearless, fierce love.

I want to think of us like artists of life. Over and over again, I read James Baldwin’s essay The Creative Process. Not only does he say that the artist “must drive to the heart of every answer and expose the question the answer hides,” but also that our purpose, our sole purpose, is “to make the world a more human dwelling place.” I hope we will find our way forward into a more human(e) dwelling place. Artists, in short, are healers.

Thanks for being with us. We will see you soon, both virtually and in person.

*Light seems an appropriate visual images for this time. It’s what we are reaching for.*