January 20, 2021

Dear Ones,

“Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”

If you were listening to the Inaugural Address this morning, you heard these words from Psalm 30, spoken by the new President of the United States. They seem especially apt at this time when we are both mourning the devastating loss of life from COVID-19 and also cheering the rollout of the vaccines that will, eventually, bring an end to this pandemic.

Four years ago today I was flying out to California from St. Louis, heading to Los Angeles to visit with my father and to attend the Women’s March with my brother and his kids. It’s been a tumultuous four years, to say the least. My own family has seen some significant milestones, including our older daughter graduate from college and my fiftieth birthday. We’ve lost family members and had health challenges. We’ve moved twice–once across country, and once from Davis to Woodland. I could go on, but I know you’ve had your own milestones, celebrations, and griefs as well.

Throughout it all, I’ve been so grateful that the opportunity to return to my home state and serve as your rector presented itself when it did. You all, as a parish, have served as that light in the dark so often to so many, including myself. Thank you. There’s nowhere else I would rather be.

Today I feel like we’re in that liminal space just before dawn, when the light is slowly advancing upon the horizon. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there. We’re not there yet, but we see the way forward. We’re not there yet–and we won’t be there until we’re all there together and no one is left behind because of race, creed, income level, gender, or any other barrier that has stood between us in the past.

I hope today is a day of joy for you. I also hope it is a day of resolve, of prayer, and of commitment to a better future. We’re all in this together. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said it best: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” Amen!

Blessings,
Pamela+