As our country continues to move towards the Inauguration Day, I know that we all are feeling the added anxiety that the most recent violent protests (and the ones before that) have added to the ongoing COVID tests and deaths.  It is tempting to get hyper-focused on all of the negativity, and lose connection to our underlying spiritual reality- that God is in the midst of us even now, incarnate still.  And that the darkness does not overcome the light.  Of late, I have begun to walk a lot; on my way to church, I take a detour through the cemetery and now my little walk from the rectory takes almost 30 minutes each time.  It was initially just an attempt to get a little exercise during these winter months, but has bloomed into an amazing opportunity to talk and listen to God.  Walking among the graves is a holy reminder that life is sacred and limited, and that what we do while we are here matters greatly to those around us and to God.  I am reminded while walking and praying that we are apart of something much bigger than viruses and presidents; we are citizens of the Kingdom of God that spans millennia and includes the crowd of witnesses who have gone before, who cheer us on.  Keep praying for change, for peace, for justice, and for God to shine the light of the divine love on us all.  

                Through all of the things that rage around us, St. Michael’s is still active! It certainly looks different, but I invite you to join us on Zoom at 9am each Sunday.  I also invite you to attend the Zoom Annual meeting on January 31, at 10am following that service (using the same Zoom link as Sunday morning worship).  We have one critical item of business this year to elect a slate of vestry candidates, and you can even vote absentee and early by clicking here.  We do need at least 50 votes to make a quorum, so please submit your ballots before or during the Zoom annual meeting on January 31.  

                In preparation for the annual meeting, our treasurer, John Davis, invites you to join him a Zoom financial discussion, looking at both 2020’s conclusion, and 2021’s budget.  This is the Sunday before the annual meeting, January 24, at 10am.

Join The Zoom Here
 Meeting ID: 895 8442 6632 Passcode: kQ#7xX$5

 As you might expect, 2020 was very different than we expected a year ago, and 2021 is shaping up to be another difficult year to predict.  Join this call if you want to know how and why we are preparing for a deficit budget in 2021 as COVID ends.  

Blessings to you all, and pray for me and the church, as I pray for each of you. 

Jesse+