Friday, May 29, 2020

COVID-19 Days
Rev. Dr. David Wasserman

One of my favorite hymns comes out of the Iona Community: The Canticle of the Turning (My Soul Cries Out with a Joyful Shout). There's a driving beat to the tempo, calling forth passion and commitment.  "My heart shall sing of the day you bring, Let the fires of your justice burn. Wipe away all tears for the dawn draws near, and the world is about to turn." It is a hymn of hope and God's triumph.

I am a sailor (even though I no longer own a boat) and one of my strongest sailing memories is of the overnight sails, keeping watch, early in the wee hours of the morning, looking for the signs of the dawn -  dark skies, then greyish, then wisps of blue, red/orange where you can once again see the line between water and air, yellowing up into a new day.

These COVID-19 days are gloomy. So much confusion, worn out health care providers, death of strangers and loved ones alike. And now, a clear reminder of divisions between the healthy and the sick, those who trust and those who hoard, the arrogant and the wary, and the blame game rearing its ugly head. God's doing something in all this.

If you are on watch on the open waters just before the dawn, you listen because the only lights you see are the tiny red, green and white of another vessel. You listen to the slap of the water, the flap of the sail, and you wait.

These COVID-19 days are not just about coping with a changing world. This is like an Advent - watching, waiting, listening, being quiet, looking for the signs. God's doing something in all this. The world is about to turn. For the better. And maybe for Planet Earth, too.


Dave Wasserman (Rev. Dr.) currently serves on the PEC Steering Committee as the Southwest Regional Representative. Dave retired from active ministry in 2013 and has served as a county jail chaplain, associate pastor, new church development pastor, and a presbytery executive. Dave enjoys music, woodworking, photography and walking/hiking.





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