On trauma and standing on the rock
I wrote this late on the feast of the Annunciation. March 25 commemorates the faithful “yes” of Mary, who looked into an unknown future trusting in the presence of God, the one who works miracles.
We look into our unknown future today with a mixture of fear, wonder, desperation, and perhaps even grief. I have felt crushed by successive blows as the ways in which we have operated as a church community have been stopped one by one. To be told on Tuesday that no one could now come to church to pray, and that I should not do so either, was the occasion of great sorrow. It feels like the lights have gone out.
My sermon last Sunday (available on the Sermon page of the website, and the video is on our new YouTube channel) spoke of how we would deepen our bonds of fellowship and service even as we demonstrate love by preserving a physical distance. My sermon of the previous Sunday (also on the sermon page) spoke of how the Scriptures neither minimise fear nor downplay danger, yet also affirm the strong rock of faith, the safe hiding place of the love of God.
The church is now called to live out her calling: to be with those in the depths of despair; to bear with those in the confines of isolation; to bring food to the hungry and solace to the weary; to strengthen the hands of the healers and to shine the light of hope in to those in the valley of the shadow of death. We will do this. Already people are communicating more while preserving our physical distance.
I have been immensely encouraged by the desire of so many to offer help, and to leap the boundary walls of isolation and quarantine with the assurance of care and practical concern. Those experienced in the ways communities respond to trauma call this the “heroic” phase. However, the fires of self-sacrifice do burn out, and (especially in what we are facing) the trauma remains. The next phase is “disillusion”, and we should be prepared for it by building long lasting foundations of love and bonds of deep service and fellowship. This will be a long haul.
We will find new ways of being Hampstead Parish Church. Can I ask all of us to reach out beyond our immediate circle and think about people we know of in church who need a phone call and expression of practical concern? Don’t hesitate to let me know of people for whom you are concerned, once you have spoken to them.
Please know that I will be praying for the whole of the church Electoral Roll and database by name. The Blessed Virgin Mary showed us how to put trust in God despite not knowing what her future would be. She sang of the God who has mercy, gives strength, lifts up the lowly, fills the hungry. I am sure that you, like me, are fearful and uncertain. Please encourage and support one another as we encourage and support our wider community. Please help each other, even and especially in these days, to “magnify the Lord” (Luke 1. 46 – 55)
With my prayers for God’s blessing
Jeremy