I am tired of living through historical moments. That is what my friend, another young adult like me wrote after the events that transpired on Wednesday. It made me think about all the historical things that have happened over my 27 years on Mother Earth. Oklahoma City Bombing. Y2K scare. 9/11. School shooting after school shooting. Movie theater shootings. Concert Shootings. Concert Bombings. Marathon Bombings. More school shootings. Historic hurricanes that destroyed cities.Women fighting for equal pay in the athletics and entertainment industries. Police Brutality. A global pandemic. Accusations of election fraud. An attempted coup on the U.S. Capital.
These are some of the things I thought of, I know that there are many things I forgot about. My soul is so weary. One thing that I started during this pandemic is reading devotions over Facebook video with a friend in Ohio while I was in Florida and now Wisconsin. We have been getting together reading Social Justice based devotionals every day together so that we can stay connected with each other but also with what Jesus and G-d is calling us to do for his kin-dom.
I graduated this past May from the Methodist Theological School in Ohio virtually along with my classmates. If I only ever take one thing away from seminary, I can sum it up in one word, Community. A community for me is the foundation of my life ministry. I find myself to be a bridge-builder in the communities that I am a member. Connecting oppressed people with community organizations or connecting people of power with the amazing work that the laity are doing already in our community.
This pandemic has harmed our feeling of community. There is no more passing of the peace while standing on the Burgandy carpets or sharing in G-d’s meal with those around you in church. I know that I am missing that. But this pandemic has shown me so many other ways that we can be in community with others from around the country and the globe.
Shalom Y’all.
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