Dear members of the Mountain Sky Conference,
Since March 2020, COVID-19 has affected all aspects of our lives. Our lives, our routines, our relationships, our communities have been disrupted in ways that many of us have never witnessed or lived through before. Currently, 4,000 Americans are losing their life to COVID-19 or COVID-related complications every day. Nearly 400,000* U.S. lives have been lost since the start of this pandemic.
Many of us are grieving the deaths of family, friends, clergy colleagues, church members, community members, and others who have passed from this virus. Others of us are feeling the weight of grief, even as we provide comfort and care to others in their own grief.
“God, listen! Listen to my prayer,
listen to the pain in my cries.
Don’t turn your back on me
just when I need you so desperately.
Pay attention! This is a cry for help!
And hurry — this can’t wait!”
- Psalm 102:1-2 (The Message)
In our individual and collective grief, I invite you into a time of lament together. Throughout our tradition, lament has served as a time for us to acknowledge our grief, to find ways to express that grief, and to find comfort in one another. Lament is powerful tool that God has provided us that allows us to embrace the pain, suffering, and loss without losing ourselves in it.
Some of you may have heard the news that the new administration has planned a time of unity and remembrance on Jan. 19 for those who have died of COVID-19. I invite all our churches to join in this call to unity and remembrance by ringing their bells at 3:30 p.m. MST on Jan. 19, followed by leaving the lights of their sanctuary on throughout the night.
As a part of this collective lament, I also invite you to post on your sign boards: “In Light and Love, We Remember, #WhereLoveLivesUMC”. In this time of sorrow, may we share our love and light by helping our communities lament all whom we have lost.
May your laments bring comfort and peace to all in your midst,
Bishop Karen Oliveto
*The nation crossed the 400,000 toll on January 16th.
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