Weeping spends the night but joy comes in the morning! Psalm 30:5
If there is consensus about anything today, it is this: 2020 can’t come to an end fast enough. To say this year has been difficult is an understatement! More than any other year, I am aware of so many challenges that you and your family have faced. Between COVID-19, health challenges, financial difficulties, political turmoil, and all the rest, we are a weary world.
I watched so many of you share pictures of your families this year, and I must remember for every happy couple, there are countless broken hearts. For every smiling child there are countless in pain. For every festive table there are countless that are bare. For every galactic gizmo there are countless who never received a gift. For every moment shared in joy there are countless horrible ones swept away not too soon forgotten.
My house, your house, his house, her house, we share what we want our neighbors to see. This isn't just true during the holidays. It isn't only true during COVID. Every moment of every day someone is hurting. Someone is grieving. Someone needs love. Someone needs to be fed. Someone is crying out for justice. Someone is just trying to make it to the next moment. Someone lives in fear that their carefully painted on smile is starting to crack.
The verse from Psalm 30 reminds us that we don’t need to pretend that everything is alright. The people of God weep. We cry out to God hoping for a different tomorrow than the one we are moving through today. We long for this season of darkness and lament to be replaced by a morning filled with joy.
It would be wonderful if, when we closed our eyes on December 31 and opened them on January 1, everything could truly be new. It would be amazing if all the challenges we have faced this year both private and public could be cast aside. How incredible would it be for all to revel in jubilee!
Our night of weeping will stretch well into 2021 but we know this season will come to an end. We will return to our gatherings. We will worship with hymns and glad tidings. We will share the sacraments. We will fellowship and converse. We will embrace. We will know joy. Resurrection will come to the beloved of God. We are a people who hope that this dark night will give way to dawn.
May God grant you patience and peace in this and all seasons.
Pastor Kristin Ostercamp
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