1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget [us] forever?
How long will you hide your face from [us]?
2 How long must [we] bear pain in [our] soul,
and have sorrow in [our] heart all day long?
How long shall [our] enemy be exalted over [us]?
3 Consider and answer [us], O Lord [our] God!
Give light to [our] eyes, or [we] will sleep the sleep of death,
4 and [our] enemy will say, “I have prevailed”;
[our] foes will rejoice because [we are] shaken.
5 But [we] trusted in your steadfast love;
[our] heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 [We] will sing to the Lord,
because he has dealt bountifully with [us].
Psalm 13. NRSV

I have been trying to write this blog for 6 days now. The words have struggled pouring forth from within my heavy heart. My soul sits uneasy. Last week at my Psalm Bible Study I am a part of we studied the Psalms as Laments. How timely was this topic to explore the raw emotion expressed in what the author called the 23 “angry laments”. It was refreshing to be reminded that some of the authors of the Biblical text had moments when the brunt of what they were feeling and expressing was anger. Some of the laments express deep sorrow. Sometimes the sorrow is for personal illness or struggle. Sometimes it is for injustice observed or experienced. Some of the laments are penitent and seek forgiveness for sins, both individual and collective, that have been committed against God and neighbor.

Right now it feels like our country is in need of expressing all three types of laments. We are a people in need of expressing anger, sorrow, and asking forgiveness. Lord have mercy.

To be honest, I have no real answers here. But I am calling on each one of us to come before God in prayer and supplication to ask for the Holy Spirit bring both Peace and Justice. Both are needed. Throw in a little Healing as well. I believe only the Holy Spirit can help guide us out of this hot mess boiling around us.

We need Peace to descend like a dove to lower the temperature and calm the explosive waters that have come to a boil all around us. We need to peace to restore our emotions to a place where we are able to hear one another again. We need peace to allow us to try and find some common ground and seek healing.

“The God we pray to wants to hear our hearts sorrow. “

We need Justice, though if we are ever going to actually achieve healing and any kind of sustainable peace. Great injustice has taken place over the past couple of months to People of Color (POC). There is no other way to state the facts. Racism is real. Racism has caused great harm. It’s a complicated problem and one that cannot be ignored any longer. The anger that has erupted has come from a place of deep hurt, brokenness, and injustice. Can we ever find a path that helps us live with the eyes of Jesus and truly treat others as we would be treated and love our neighbor no matter the color of their skin? I don’t think Jesus could be any clearer in the Gospels where he stands in a situation like we find ourselves in. So why is it so hard for us do better?

We need healing. Not only is our country embroiled in complex racial tensions and violence but we are also still in the throes of a pandemic. Last week we crested 100,000 deaths in the US to COVID-19. 100,000+persons have lost their lives to this virus. It’s hard for those of us in Watauga County to understand this level of devastation because we have not had any deaths (thankfully) and only 13 cases so far with 9 of those already recovered. But we are in a bubble compared to some places where everyone has lost a neighbor or a coworker or a family member. We need healing for the grief and loss so many have, are and will experience. We need healing for the trauma of lives interrupted. I feel for our graduating seniors from high school and college for example that have had to adapt celebrating this important milestone. All of us have missed something special happening in our lives because of this virus. We need healing for the loneliness that some are experiencing, going on 3 months of not being touched by another person, only connecting with others by phone or Zoom. We need healing for stressed out families or depression that has crept in the voids of our lives.

The Good News here is something the Psalms remind me, even in the most emotional laments. The God we love and worship is worthy of our best angry prayer. The God we pray to wants to hear our hearts sorrow. The God we praise is more than able to carry our pain. While there are times I feel the words of Psalm 13 quoted at the beginning of this article asking “How long?”. My heart also feels the words at the end of the psalm – I do trust in God’s steadfast love and I will sing of God’s saving power not only in my life but for the hurting world surrounding me right now. I do believe God will help us find a way through this muck. I believe God will help us fine Peace, Justice and Healing. I trust and believe it. I hope you can, too.
Come Holy Spirit.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth

It happened. In spite of COVID-19. In spite of social distancing. In spite of Shelter in Place. In spite of closed sanctuaries. Easter happened! It had to be one of the most surreal and yet memorable Easters of my entire life. I will always remember where I was and what I was doing during the Easter of COVID-19! I bet you will be the same.

As I have taken a couple of days to rest I have a few observations from the past week. Much like the Grinch who tried to steal Christmas and failed, the Coronavirus that tried to “steal” Easter also failed. While our traditions might have been disrupted and our travel plans turned upside down, the tomb was still empty on Easter morning and Jesus still raised from the dead! And there were a multitude of voices shouting “Hallelujah, He is Risen!” across the world on Sunday. The reason that is true is because Easter is all about what God did, and zero about what we do or did. Easter doesn’t happen because we sing a certain song (although Easter fills like Easter when I get to sing Christ the Lord has Risen Today!), or a prayer we pray or a dress or tie we wear or a meal we eat or even a basket of eggs or chocolate we receive. Easter happens because 3 days after Jesus was crucified on a cross, God overcame death by raising Jesus from the dead. Hallelujah! And in spite of the great distress and loss that Coronavirus has caused, it cannot take that truth away from us.

I will also admit that I have been surprised by how connected I have felt to people through livestream worship. I served a church previously where we started a livestream ministry and we did it every single Sunday morning. But I never really felt connected to the people on the other side of the camera. It was more like they were eavesdropping in on our worship service. This has been different. With no one in the sanctuary, Vern and I have made a concerted effort in our minds to preach to the people on the other side of the camera. It helps to be able to see comments from our worshipping community while we worship together to know we are all giving out hearts and attention to God together in this moment in time. I have loved seeing your pictures of your worship time at home and your communion elements gathered before you as we celebrate together through livestream. But I give thanks to God that we have found a way to connect with one another while we connect to God when we can’t gather together in our usual worship space. The Holy Spirit is a powerful force and I personally think that is what is moving among us Sunday mornings, no matter where we are watching.

Another observation I have had is seeing the best in humanity. I have seen it among people in the few times I have been in public to the store or the Post Office. (People are being polite and and patient with one another sharing the aisle in the grocery store.) I have seen it in news stories like the interview I heard today on the news of someone who had the virus and was over it and was now donating plasma in order to help 2-4 other people fight the virus by receiving her antibodies. I have seen it among posts on social media when folks are encouraging those who are down or who are missing out on important life experiences like a senior year in high school or celebrating a birthday Coronavirus style. I have seen it in the leadership of our church as we have made decisions and adapted to new opportunities. I have especially seen it in this amazing staff and how we have come together to do whatever it takes. It’s almost like the worship team has become my second family. I care as much about staying healthy for their sake as I do for my own family because that is how important they have become to me. And outside of Greg, this staff are the only folks I am interacting with in person and they help keep me sane when we Zoom or see each other on Sundays to help lead worship or occasionally passing each other in the church building.

The Holy Spirit is a powerful force and I personally think that is what is moving among us Sunday mornings, no matter where we are watching.

But thankfully, after a long string of years of seeing the worst side of people getting divided over anything and everything and assuming the worst of one another, I am so grateful to be able to see the best in one another. To appreciate deeply those heroes in our community who are working in our hospitals and clinics to care for the sick knowing they could be exposed at any minute. Those first responder heroes who walk towards the risks instead of away from them. People taking care of neighbors. My observation is seeing the best of people shine through the real struggles of this new life we are living reveals that the Imago Dei (image of God) within us has not been damaged beyond repair by negativity and division. We are capable of unifying. My prayer is that it continues long after COVID-19 becomes a historical memory.

Be encouraged my friends. We still have unchartered territory ahead of us for a while. We are starting to figure this out. And hopefully we will develop all that we need to beat this pandemic in the form of vaccines, quick tests available for everyone, new social practices that keep us healthy, and stop gaps for those who have suffered financially.
Be encouraged friends because in spite of all that we are still enduring, that tomb is still empty. Jesus Christ is raised from the dead. God fulfills God’s promises. And nothing can take that truth away from us!

Coming Soon- Zoom Bible Study on the Psalms. Here’s more info if you want to join me!

Join Pastor Lory Beth for a study called Journey Through the Psalms. This is an eight-session study that will include video lessons from Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, a Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. Through study of the word and insights gained through the arts, this course invites us to approach God with the same honesty and intensity as the ancient Psalmists. Journey Through the Psalms is devotionally focused and will be adapted for the Zoom format. Classes will begin Thursday, April 23 at 10:00 AM and go through June 11. If mornings are not good times for you but you are interested please let me know and if there is enough interest, we will find an evening time option as well. To register please email lorybeth@booneumc.org or if you have any questions.

Grace and Peace,

Lory Beth

PS. We start a new sermon series this week called Stronger Through the Struggles. We look forward to seeing what Scripture has to say to help us thrive in the midst of this great disruption and how not to get down. How we can use it to make us stronger. Join us for worship Sunday mornings at 11:00 – go to our website to find all the ways you can watch.