Lent turns to Holy Week

Dear Friends,

As Christians, the heart of our faith is following Jesus with the hope of becoming a bit more like him. Easter reminds us that we are not alone in this. We are accompanied not only by Jesus, but also by one another. Living a faithful life is not something that we can do in isolation. We need one another to support our practice of becoming even a small amount more like Jesus.

This Lent, led by the Outreach Committee, we have been visited by extraordinary friends of the congregation who show us how this might be possible. People like Sooky Lassen, Dr. Isma Chaudury, Jon Stepanian, and Pilar Moya-Mancera are working to transform our communities in Cold Spring Harbor, Huntington and Oyster Bay for the better. They show us how we might become more like Jesus - agents of grace, sowers of good seeds, compassionate leaders making an impact in the world. They invite us to practice this way of being.

Every Easter the Church celebrates how we and the whole world can be remade with God’s help into a more loving, more compassionate, more holy creation. We trust that we sow the seeds of resurrection through our practice of faith and our progress in growing compassion. But, that takes practice. And that’s why we are here. That’s what church is for. To practice being holy by spending time with God and one another.

You may know that my daughter Byrd has been taking Tae Kwon Do for a couple of years. She loves it. I love watching her grow in strength and skill. Because of the studio rules that at least one parent be present each week, I also spend a lot of time in the Tae Kwon Do studio watching. It is amazing. While I watch, sometimes I pray. Sometimes I meditate. Sometimes I read. These young people remind me how central “practice” is to faith.

On any particular day we may find ourselves more or less conscious of God in our lives, but over the course of time, the practice of prayer and compassion may surprise us. We may find God speaking to us, helping us to understand who God is calling us to be. Leaders like those we spent time with this Lent help us to perceive this even more clearly and to prepare ourselves for the Good News of Easter morning.

Easter is a celebration of the fact that Love can indeed overcome Death. Easter is a celebration of the fact that we are not alone. Easter is a celebration of the fact that God loved us so much that God became one of us. It is a celebration of the fact that we are invited into the holiness and compassion that led God to become one of us.

Today, we practice compassion and holiness. One day, maybe, with God’s help, we might master it.

Yours,

The Very Rev. Gideon L. K. Pollach