Hurricanes.  Droughts.  Fires.  Flooding.  Pandemic.  Domestic and international instability.  Yeah, things are going great!

It is completely understandable that many people are tired, frustrated and disappointed with the state of things right now.  I know parents with young children in school are especially stressed right now because of rising positive Covid tests in schools and the need to quarantine.

These are not easy times, to be sure.  Peoples’ internal resources are stretched thin and it takes very little to cause one’s plate to overflow.

So where do you find respite?  When do you re-center?  How often do you focus on the good?   

Many people don’t do any of these things.  Some will say that they don’t have time.  (Maybe they don’t even have time to read this).  Some will say that carving out moments for themselves can feel like just one more thing to do.  Most people feel it’s just not important.

But it is important.  In fact, it’s vital.  Because if you don’t do these things; if you don’t re-ground yourself, if you don’t remember that the world is still a good place, if you don’t connect with God once in a while, you’re going to sink.  Fast and hard.

We’re back at our church, now, for weekly Sunday worship in the sanctuary.  I get it that not everyone is ready to be here for that and that’s okay.  The sermon will be up on our Youtube channel during the week following each Sunday.  But whether you come to the sanctuary or connect with us at home, you really need First Congregational Church in your life right now.  You do.

Why?  Because you are starting to forget that you are a child of God.  You are relying on your twitter feed instead of Christ’s presence in your heart.  You are at the end of your rope when you don’t need to be.

Someone once told me that when they saw our church steeple on their way to work each morning it was a momentary reminder that the day would be do-able; that God would be with them and that they would be okay.

If FCC did nothing more than that, it would be indispensable.  But it is so much more than that.  It is your well-spring.  It is your assurance of the constancy of God’s grace.  It is your spiritual home and it is here for you and for this challenging world.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic