Rev. Melinda Giese, Minister of Discipleship and Pastoral Care
On Labor Day, as the smoke blew in and the wind picked up, people on my Facebook feed started to get worried. One teacher in our school district lamented, “We can NOT have power outages tomorrow. On the first full day of Zoom classes. Are you kidding me??” Our power went out about 9 pm.
I must admit, this year has felt like an endless series of “Are you kidding me??” moments. Just when I get adjusted to one challenge, another appears. Pandemic, check. Pastoring from home, check. School from home for kids, check. Wind, smoke, and fires, check. First day of school without power or internet at home but classes in the Fife District still in session, check.
I also know from pastoral phone calls that many of you face difficult challenges of your own. Dealing with health issues, grief and loss takes more out of us when we’re missing the regular in-person support of our community of faith. This year is calling on all the strength, hope, and endurance God can give us, as we persevere together in faith.
To nourish your spirit this week, I offer you a video of the Boston Children’s Chorus (in collaboration with others) singing “Rise Up.” While not expressly religious, it draws upon familiar Christian images of moving mountains (Matthew 17:20) and “rising up” (Isaiah 60:1 and 40:31). In the music and the words, I hope you will find hope and renewed courage to keep rising up, in the spirit of the Risen One we call Christ.