April 10, 2020

Greetings Lake B Family and Friends,
 
It is Easter weekend. We are here.
 
Now at the end of six weeks of Lenten conversations, many images and aha! moments come to mind that reflect the ministry in and with our community AND in the lives of our own Lake B community of faith.
 
Here are my own takeaways from those weeks:

• I am called to follow Christ, and I will be changed in my following.
• Jesus is Truth embodied. My relationship with Christ puts all of us in relationship with TRUTH - and all that it means - as we follow Him.
• The Samaritan woman at the well reminds me that Jesus is the living water. She did not find what she ultimately sought – LIFE – at the well. That makes me wonder if I am open to LIVING water in containers and traditions outside of the ones I am used to.
• Blindness isn’t the big problem, but not knowing I’m blind might be. Who will help me see?
• I can’t experience the miracle if I’m not proximate to the suffering and need. I must go to the tomb. AND the community is part of that miracle, called to “unbind” and to help liberate together.
• What do I need to lay down that’s right here in my “palms” (on Palm Sunday)? What am I holding that I need to give to God in worship?  During Holy Week, we saw that Transformation (Jesus) comes to the “temple” to overturn transactional ways of being – especially in religious institutions.

 
In many ways the recent weeks of quarantining have been a gift because they have made me (and perhaps some of you) more aware of the Presence of God in our lives. There has been room to consider more deeply what it means to walk together.
 
I am sitting in my office at the church as I write this letter.  I have come here at least once or twice a week to check on things, make sure it’s still here (sounds funny even as I read it back to myself). I let myself into the sanctuary for a moment and look around, then I walk through the Fellowship Hall. I find myself longing to see your faces and be in your physical presence. Sitting in the courtyard I see in my mind’s eye our children (Eliana, Zane, Brewer, Atticus, Greyson, Lily,  Sheyne, Jabez, Ezra and others) running around and chasing each other in the courtyard prayer labyrinth. That brings a smile, partly because that wasn’t the original plan for the labyrinth, but I can’t think of sweeter prayers than the laughter and play of children.
 
This physical space we call “the church” really isn’t the Church at all. It’s a building. It’s a wonderful facility, a place that facilitates gathering the people of God. But the people are the Church. I know we know that, but being unable to gather for the past several weeks has made this reality so much more tangible.  
It is my prayer for Lake B that not being to gather physically is strengthening our resolve to be more intentional, to be more appreciative, and to be even more attentive to what the Spirit of God is doing in “US” as part of the body of Christ.
 
Thank you for being such a beautiful expression of the image of God. Your prayers, your solidarity, your willingness to be in hard places and ask hard questions, your desire to see Christ and to follow more faithfully are deeply encouraging.  Your generosity and sacrifice of time, heart, and resources are blessing and lifting this community in profound ways – I can’t wait to share more of that with you in the weeks to come.
 
In the hope of transformation and resurrection in us and through us,
 
Lina