Displacement and fear
Two Sundays ago, my congregation watched as pillars of smoke and flame spoiled the view of Pike’s Peak from our sanctuary windows. After that, our city—Colorado Springs—experienced mass evacuations that had people gathering a few possessions and heading into smoke-choked streets to hotels, shelters and other people’s homes.
In the chaotic days that followed, I sat down to prepare a sermon. I didn’t know where it would be delivered. Would we be in our own building or sharing space elsewhere? The uncertainty didn’t sit well (does it ever?). But as hospitality, prayer and concern poured into our parish from many others, I understood more deeply that the church is not a place—it is us.
The assigned readings for that week spoke to the uncertainty and fear of being displaced. The passage from the Wisdom of Solomon told me that regardless of how the fires rage, our presence together on the Sunday following our evacuation is proof that “the dominion of Hades is not on earth.” In Lamentations, we hear the source of hope in the midst of loss: “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end."
