During this Covid season, there has been much talk about how terrible ‘internet church’ is. There is, of course, nothing that takes the place of actually going (or being allowed to go) to church. Like the Bible – it’s one thing to hear stories from it, it’s an entirely different thing when one reads the Bible for one’s self. It is a living, breathing thing, as is the church.

I have no problem with internet church. It does what church is supposed to do – it reaches people. We always say that Jesus will meet you wherever you are – and that includes the internet. Long, long, long before covid, we’ve had our ‘shut ins’. They depended on the ability of the priest to make his rounds of visitations and then the shut-ins were alone again until the next month. Not so today. We are able to attend church even if we can’t attend church; we fellowship even if there are no coffee or cookies; we encourage each other even if we can’t reach out and pat someone’s hand in support and compassion.

My dearest friend Alys is in the UK and on lockdown – as is the whole country. She attends church with me on our church’s YouTube channel every week. We both attend Bible study with Bishop Chad via Zoom. We are doing Stations of the Cross every Friday at noon during Lent using Face Book video chat.

The chat feature is open on the church’s YT channel and if you promise not to tell the Bishop, I’ll tell you we chat – only during announcements of course (wink). I’ve been so pleased to be able to do Stations, I put my email address on the chat and invited anyone who is interested to join Alys and me when we do Stations. Sure enough – I received an email from a woman in Louisiana that wants to do Stations with us. In chatting back and forth via email, she mentioned she’s in hospice with stage four lung cancer. Going out is not an option for her. Were it not for the internet, she’d not be able to do Stations – I sent her the prayers so she can read a Station if she wants to or just follow along as Alys and I take turns with the readings.

There is no Holy Communion for us. Again, nothing takes the place of receiving Communion in both kinds. But the Church, in her wisdom, has given us a form for Spiritual Communion. Is it second to the real thing? Of course it is, but it is far, far better than to have nothing; ‘Spiritual Communion’ can be as fortifying as taking it – almost. But it is fulfilling and curbs the yearning in the heart for the real thing. Our friend in Louisiana did not have the form and just sort of waited online until the tech guy (God bless Dave and his devotion to serving the online congregation) comes back from receiving Communion and turns the church’s cameras back on. Now that she has the form, she, Alys, and I have our spiritual communion as the rest of the congregation have their actual communion. We are apart – but we are not apart. The congregation and the online congregation are one – we all pray together; that we are not sitting next to each other is meaningless. We are together.

The internet, just like any kind of technology, can be a blessing or a curse. I have found great blessing – and fellowship and encouragement – using the internet and the different technologies. So … no; I have no problem with the internet or internet church or internet fellowship. Wherever two or more are gathered in His name, there He is also.

(elbow to your ribs) C’mon, now; it’s not like it used to be. I used to turn my nose up at contemporary Christian music but I’m older and wiser now and I’ve learned a thing or two. Christians will always tell each other, and those who are ‘inquiring’, that Jesus will meet them wherever they are. We say it because it’s true. No one has to finish a pre-req course or take a test or stand up in a meeting; all a person has to do is say, “Help me, Lord” and Jesus is at his side, ready, willing, and able to help and to love.

One of the great forms of communication is singing. Ever watch little children when they sing? They get a sort of ‘look’ on their little faces, like what they are doing is amazing and all theirs and they just discovered it. I used to love to hear my dad sing while he was doing his chores – I’d giggle because he never remembered but a few words and made up his own, but he loved to sing. And was inordinately proud of his whistling. All ages love to sing. All peoples love to sing.

Hymns are lovely and a salve to the spirit and we love them in a very special way but truth be told, we are of an age and time that is passing. God finds new ways to reach out to the broken and weary and one of those ways is Christian music. The kids have got to know that there’s an answer to all this mess they see here; that there is something more and mightier and worth living for. They have to know that they have worth and are valued and wanted and lived and died for. Contemporary Christian music does that.

New Christian music comes in every genre – country, hip hop, rock’n’roll, rap, easy listening and everything in between. Many of the songs cross over into mainstream popular music and vise versa. This was a country song that Christians took immediately to their hearts https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5z-jjWyAJQ

This one brings tears to my eyes. I look at the faces of the crowd – all that wasted potential, and I think of those people I wrote about awhile back, the ones with the tattoos, and I can’t help but weep. As important as hymns are, so is the music that reaches people who don’t have that connection – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WtV1XtqsW0

Next time you’re rolling that dial in the car (or pushing the button or whatever new vehicles do), stop on the Christian station and give a listen. And learn a lesson. And humble yourself to a new way to hear the Lord speak to His children.

It’s funny how certain things come to mind from various things we experience throughout a regular day. News, music, television shows, movies – all the things we encounter as we move from morning to night.

For the last few days, this verse has been tapping me on the head. It managed to embed itself in my memory by its own desire. I didn’t study it to memorize it, it memorized itself in my brain.

Psalm 46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God: ” Be still. That’s a tall order and God knew it when He said it. It is virtually impossible for humans to be still. Ever watch a live sporting event? Do those folks ever sit down and watch the game? Why did they pay so much money for their seats if they weren’t going to sit in them? Think of just about any grouping of humans and you will find a distinct lack of ‘still’. Even in church, during the sermon you hear papers rustling, books being shuffled about, women in and out of their purses. It’s very hard to be still.

Be still; also means take a moment, away from the phone, radio, tv, family members, all extraneous input and know that He is God. Be still; take refuge in Him, hide in Him, rest in Him. Be still; “he leadeth me beside still waters” – calm, flat and reflective of the sky and of Him. Be still; let His power and might and love passing understanding wash over you. Be still; let Him wash away your cares and concerns, your anger and dispair. Be still; allow yourself a time of peace of mind and heart. Be still – and know that He is God.

Everything in our lives seem overwhelming. Debts and bad health and kids going wrong and politics in the world and politics in the Church and rising prices and threats against domestic peace and illness and unfairness and car repairs and what’s for dinner and the laundry needs doing now and, and, and. We are overwhelmed but we needn’t be. All we have to do, really, is follow that verse in Psalm 46. That’s why it’s there – for us to follow. Before you allow yourself to be drowned by the world around you, do this: Be still, and know that He is God.

Be still.