“What is this place, where we are meeting?”
A monitor screen, covered with a patchwork of squares,
filled with the faces of people
A community, a family, “a body that lives”
even though we are gathered virtually.
We affirm that the God that is here with me
is also there with you.

Unencumbered from habitual seating
and the gravitational pull of familiarity,
we invite one another into our homes,
stitch our names to our faces,
and offer virtual hospitality
fusing our lives with a different kind of kinship,
creating an altered fabric of being, forever changed.

We are pilgrims on a journey where
Truth and Neighbor
are no longer valued or welcomed,
where isolation and fear
invade our hearts and homes,
where greed trumps hunger, Covid runs rampant,
and physical and mental needs abound.
Through all, our calling remains the same:
to be channels of God's healing, hope, and peace.

As our monitor screen multiplies with squares,
We’re reminded that we’re not in this alone.
“We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load...”
We hold the Christ-light for each other.
We speak the Peace we long to hear.
We weep together, laugh together;
we continue “share our joys and sorrows,
till we’ve seen this journey through.”

“Here in this world, dying and living,
we are each other’s bread and wine.
This is the place where we can receive
what we need to increase:
God’s justice and God’s peace.”

*From Hymnal A Worship Book
Hymn 1 What is this place
Hymn 307 Will you let me be your servant