Pastor's Letter

O God, thou art my God, I seek thee,
my soul thirsts for thee;
my flesh faints for thee,
    as in a dry and weary land where no water is.
(Psalm 63:1, NRSV)
Perhaps the disruption of our routines and daily lives in one sense has actually been one of “the blessings in disguise” of the pandemic. As painful as it has been, the abrupt shock of not being able to do things in a “business as usual” manner has created a need for us as individuals and our society in general to get creative and explore options, and has opened a space for us to take notice of where we spend our time, money and energy. With fewer outside activities, we’ve had more time to rediscover hobbies, reconnect with spouses, children and friends (even if only over Zoom) and to discover new joys that we never had time for when our schedules were packed to overflowing. We’ve discovered that we can be resilient and creative. We’ve also become acutely aware of the joys and necessities of life that we miss and can’t wait to get back to.
Now that our society is opening back up, many of us have our lists of the first things we’re going to do when we “get back to normal.” (Like traveling and hugging loved ones!) Many of us also lamenting the things that we feel we will have to resume doing. Like spending hours commuting, not to mention stressing out when there’s a traffic jam. For some of us, especially those with health risks, opening up will not offer freedom; only more isolation as the threat of the virus continues to loom. I think some of the questions a lot of us are considering right now are: What will the ‘new normal’ look like?  What do we want the new normal to look like? Do we have to go back to the way it was or can we take what we’ve learned this past year and create a better normal? And how can we create a new normal that doesn’t leave some even more isolated?   
Here at Coastside Lutheran, we are considering these same questions as we plan for gathering again in person.  Our council, our Covid Response Team, our Pathfinder team, our technology team, our property team, our ministry leaders and our entire community are all thinking about how we are going to move into the future. Fundamental to this discernment is our identity as people of God and as a community of God invited by the Spirit to live “the spiritual life.”
Marjorie Thompson in her book, Soul Feast, writes, “Scripturally speaking, the spiritual life is simply the increasing vitality and way of God’s Spirit in us. It is a magnificent choreography of the Holy Spirit in the human spirit, moving toward communion with both creator and creation.” (pg. 6)  Thompson goes on to explain that the spiritual life is “a process of growing in gratitude, trust, obedience, humility, compassion, service, and joy,” bringing us deeper into relationship with God,  aligning our ways with God’s and quenching our thirst for God.
In the next few months, as we imagine what our worship will look like, what our bible study will look like, what our community will look like, what caring for our neighbor will look like, we have an “unprecedented” opportunity to go back to basics and ask: What parts of our spiritual practices are helping us grow as Thompson describes?  Where and how are the things we are doing bringing us closer to God? Where and in what ways are we still thirsting for God?
And so, as we move forward shaping our ‘new normal,’ I invite you to join me on a journey of discernment, starting in June, to examine our spiritual practices such as worship, bible study, prayer, hospitality, and others; reflecting on how our Lutheran tradition informs our understanding of these things and then talking together as a community about what these look like and could look like for us in our context. The first area I’d like to look at with you is worship. The June newsletter will contain some background material for reflection and then we’ll get together on zoom one Sunday after worship (exact date TBD) to talk about worship at Coastside. I’m looking forward to our conversations.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. (2 Cor 3:17-18)
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 Peace, Pastor Sue