All Saints Lutheran Church issued the following announcement on July 24.
Sharing God's Abundance & HealingThis week begins several weeks of exploring the ways Jesus demonstrated and taught his disciples to share, from their meager resources, the abundance and healing of God. In God's economy, that's enough... and there's more than enough for everyone with lots leftover! What a compelling message for such of time as this... COVID cases are rising exponentially in our community.
A note from a nurse at AdventHealth in Daytona TODAY:"There are no beds available in the hospital and 100 are admitted now with covid. If something else is wrong we have no place to care for them and no place for people to go. Area hospitals are the same We are transferring people to the Jacksonville area."If you're a numbers person, here is the weekly report from the FL Department of Health:http://ww11.doh.state.fl.us/.../covid19_data_latest.pdfAs I type this, this weeks data is not yet posted but I am fully expecting a grim report based on reports on the ground and the weekly increase the last two weeks.You and I do not have a magical cure that will make COVID go away.
But our gospel this week encourages us to ask, "What do we have?" and "How can we share what we have for the benefit of all?".When the reopening team and I asked that question we came up with a few answers:We can mask to protect ourselves and others and not inadvertently spread something we have (yes it looks like the vaccinated probably can transmit the Delta variant even if they are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms.)We can take all kinds of precautions when we worship together (mask, social distance, refrain from communal singing, etc.)We can continue streaming online AND encourage people to stay home if they are symptomatic, have been exposed, and/or are immunocompromised We can encourage the people in our lives to get vaccinated if they are still hesitantWe can check on our neighbors, share our resources, and enjoy them in small groups, outdoors if possible
We can avoid going indoors with crowds unless absolutely necessaryWe can pray for our health care workers and if we have one in our life, make them a home-cooked meal, watch their kids so they can take a nap, or buy them a cup of coffee (they have a long couple months ahead of them and need all the tender care they can get!)What would you add to the list? What meager resources do you have that when you offer and give thanks, like the bread and wine of communion, become the bread of life for the healing of the whole world?WW11.DOH.STATE.FL.US
Original source can be found here.
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