In all the words and  vocabulary which has been prompted by COVID-19, I think the above words are among the best.  Why do I say this?

      Firstly, they give us some hope that indeed this too will pass and we will come out on the other side.

      Also the above words focus on 'community' and take us beyond the emphasis of the individuality that is too often prevalent in our world of "I" and "me."  I think that those on the front lines, sacrificing on our behalf to whom we are truly grateful will take us beyond our individualism to a heightened sense of community; in short that we need each other and we are dependant on one another.  Surely this is one of the lessons that coronavirus is teaching us.

    Of course a community  focus is not new to us as Christians and in the Church.  Our roots give us a unique word for community - the fellowship coming from the Greek word 'koinonia' which is the deepest form of community where we care for one another in the love that Christ has for all of us.

    To bring this to the here and now!  To be certain I am missing Sunday Worship Services which nourish our Faith week by week. But equally as certain, I am missing the fellowship time in the Sheila Johnston Hall following the Worship Service - that effervescent spirit of conversation, laughter music, and yes even the tears when we gather together.

    Yes we were made for Worship and Fellowship - that caring and sharing of one another that our tech twins as good as they are; 'streaming' and 'zooming' don't quite cut it.

    We need to support one another in the good and normal times ( do you remember them?) and also in the storms of life that Christian fellowship offers us.

    The lesson of  the Sequoia trees reaffirm this community support, the fellowship, which is a life line as we go forward.

    Difficult times come to all of us, and no one can go through these times for us. Even so, we can be supported in those difficult times by the prayers and understanding of loved ones and friends.  It's when we are too proud to admit and share our need with others that we are in the greatest danger.

    The Sequoia trees of British Columbia tower as much as 300 feet above the ground.  Strangely, these giants have unusually shallow root systems that reach out in all directions to capture the greatest amount of surface moisture.  Seldom will you see a redwood standing alone because high winds would quickly uproot it.  That's why they grow in clusters.  Their intertwining roots provide support for one another against the storms.  This is the same support that we need in the face of our storms, in this invisible silent storm of COVID-19 and the support which we have together in Christian fellowship.  In Christ we need each other and we have each other!

Absent in the body but together in the Spirit,

    Together in Christian Fellowship,

        Reverend Wayne.