Default or promise?

As many of our faith communities are considering how best to safely gather for in person worship, I’m pondering what it means “to go back”.

Isaiah 58:6-7

Is not this the fast that I choose:

to loose the bonds of injustice,

to undo the thongs of the yoke,

to let the oppressed go free,

and to break every yoke?

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,

and bring the homeless poor into your house;

when you see the naked, to cover them,

and not to hide yourself from your own kin?

Going back...

What does that entail

Is it a regression?

back to old habits

and comforting practices

Is it a retreat?

back to safe spaces

and familiar patterns

Is it a withdrawal?

back to sanctuaries

where we can hide

safely entrenched

behind defensive walls

built up over generations

Going back...

A comforting default

Or moving forward?

a buzz phrase much maligned

Moving forward

with God

into the future

that God is revealing

Discerning the places

where God lives

and walks

and invites us to be partners

listening and connecting

learning and discovering

who we are called to be

in the wake of a pandemic

with the potential

for deploying the reset function

that is already in progress

Moving forward into the promise

of the unknown

where the rules of engagement

are still being worked out

where we cannot rely 

on the old paths that we know

but on the one

who makes all things new.

Default or promise?

Which will it be?