Are you feeling kind of “off”?  Like everything is pretty much okay but you really can’t lean into this “new normal”?  You can’t really trust it somehow?

A lot of people are feeling that way these days.  

Maybe it is because the world feels like it has left the rails and has yet to come to a rest somewhere among the brush and bramble.  You know the list: the war in Ukraine, the return of fascism in Italy, climate change, political volatility in our country…

Is it that?  Maybe.  But the world has always felt on the edge in one way or another.  Certainly, during the last presidency, we felt that way daily.  This feels more like brain fog.  Collective brain fog.

Maybe it is the after-effects of the pandemic.  Is the pandemic over?  Yes?  No?  Maybe sort of?  Can we start living the way we used to?

It’s easy to feel “off.” 

Speaking of the way things were before the pandemic, Bethany Jean Clement of The Seattle Times writes that she misses that time when things made sense:

“I miss when life was like a card game and, sure, you had to play the hand you were dealt, but at least the cards made sense.  Full house?  Excellent.  Pair of fours?  Well, it’s something.  Handful of garbage?  Bluff or fold — that’s two clear choices! 

Now it’s like you’ve got one Uno card, a Hallmark sympathy card with a rose plus “Big hugs!” on it, a tarot card of a person with 17 swords stuck through them that’s somehow supposed to be a good sign, a jack of hearts, a Dock Ellis baseball card, and a bonus business card from someone you don’t remember ever meeting.  Ante up for that!  I don’t even like cards.”

That sounds about right.  

It’s okay to feel the way you do.  It is okay to not really know why you feel that way.  We are all muddling forward as best we can but the good news is that you’re not out there by yourself.  

Every Sunday morning you have a chance to gather with like-minded, like-feeling people and remember that the world is still a good place, that God is still around and working through the church to bring about more light and joy, and that you’re going to be okay.

Swing by.  I’m betting it’ll help.

See you in church,

–Rev. Dominic