Well, friends, the saga continues.
It appears that most all of what I mentioned in last month’s newsletter has come to pass: Omicron is a more contagious variant (much more contagious) but less severe in its effects than the Alpha and Delta were. Vaccination does not prevent transmission and spread, but the fully vaccinated appear to weather infection from the variant better than the non-vaccinated. Most all of us will have some kind of encounter with this variant. The worst part, though, is that while the percentage of people severely sickened is lower, the number of total people infected is much higher, too: a small percentage of a larger number is still pretty significant.
Given concerns for the stretched capacity of our medical system in these days, the Consistory has now voted to suspend in-person worship at least through February 6th. Hopefully, the outbreak of the Omicron variant will come to a peak point soon and will resolve as quickly as it developed.
In the meantime, we approach the future with hope and trust.
And speakiing of the future, coming in March will be the start of Lent, on March 2nd—Ash Wednesday. Our worship services for Ash Wednesday and Holy Week will follow the Lectionary-based theme, “Good Enough.” The themes and scriptures for upcoming services will be, as follows:
Ash Wednesday, March 2 “Perfectionism is impossible. Transformation isn’t.” (Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21)
First Sunday in Lent, March 6– “Ordinary Lives Can Be Holy” (Luke 4:1-13)
Second Sunday in Lent, March 13 – “So Much Is Out of Our Control” (Luke 13:31-35)
Third Sunday in Lent, March 20 – “Lots of Things Can Be Medicine” (Luke 13:1-9)
Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 27 – “We Often Believe We Are the Problem” (Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32)
Fifth Sunday in Lent, April 3 – “We Are Fragile” (John 12:1-8)
Palm Sunday, April 10 – “You Are a Group Project” (Luke 19:28-40)
Maundy Thursday, April 14 – “We Are Blessed, Regardless” (John 13:1-17, 31b-35)
Good Friday, April 15 – “Even Today, God Is Here and Somehow, That Is Good Enough” (John 18:1-19:42)
Easter, April 17 – “A Good Enough Faith” (John 10:1-18)
Details of the midweek services after Ash Wednesday will be shared in next month’s newsletter.
May the days ahead be uneventful ones for all of us.
Shalom aleichem—Peace be with you.
Rev. Jim Hoppert
