Reflection for Thursday in Easter 2 | The Reverend Caroline Stacey

Governor Cuomo has been talking about re-imagining rather than reopening New York. I am sure each of you have been wondering and re-imagining life beyond quarantine as we tentatively plan for a range of scenarios. What is your own human and spiritual re-imagining as we emerge from this phase of the pandemic? What is different in you? What is emerging that is new? What matters less and what matters more? What do you want to hold onto and not forget about this experience? 

At our virtual School Board meeting on Tuesday evening, school parents and staff spoke of the many struggles and sorrows of this time but also of their hopes for new kinds of learning, new habits of mind and heart, and a new maturity in our public life and civic discourse. If we can integrate this pandemic experience into a deeper shared compassion and resolve for peace and justice, there will be a blessing hidden within this terrible time that will outlast even the ravages of the pandemic. 

We will have an opportunity in the next months to deepen our commitment to God’s kingdom of peace and justice. COVID-19 has only just begun cutting its destructive path through India, Latin America, and through many African nations. Projections estimate a doubling of people facing starvation worldwide to 265 million by the end of 2020. Churches like St. Luke’s which collect weekly for food pantries will need to step forward to help in our own city. Each of us will be invited to search our hearts and take personal responsibility for taking some action to meet the humanitarian crisis unfolding in our world.