Silver Linings

In the last couple of meetings I have been in with our District Superintendent, Kelly Clem, I have been reminded about the concept of Silver Linings. The metaphor comes from the English idiom, “every cloud has a silver lining.” Even when things may not be going our way, good can still be found. This has been a difficult season for the church universal and us in particular. Having to shut down in person, in building worship to focus on online. Reopening in-person, in-building but with restrictions for safety. Even with those, recognizing the need for online worship was so important, because many would still not feel comfortable returning to in person worship until after the pandemic has ended. This has provided a lot more to think about as we are producing different services weekly for both in person and online.

We had one of those silver linings recently. Since we would be unable to celebrate All Saints Day in our traditional way, we decided to put together a slideshow video of members we lost in the past year, as well as other dear saints of Edgemont who have gone home to be with the Lord. The Monday after our service went live on YouTube, Ted Danielowicz and I received a text message from Amanda Penn. Many of you know Amanda has just recently moved from Florence to Nevada to be closer to her son. She was able to watch our video, the same one we watched in our service, the same one our members watched from home. I am so grateful for everyone who helped make that video happen!

I have to wonder: if we had not been so focused on making sure that our members at home would be able to remember and celebrate the All Saints Day with those in person, would we have even done a slideshow? Maybe, maybe not. We did, however, do a slideshow and a member who moved over 2,000 miles away was able to participate with us in remembering our saints. I couldn’t help but think of Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Bad things happen and we can find ourselves in difficult times; yet we have a God who works in the middle of those times to bring about good for us. It may be that day, it may be years down the road, but God will do good for us. May we remember to be watching for the good.

Pastor Henry