Friday, April 30, 2021


With the days in the 60s and 70s, the snows of February are only a distant memory.  The CDC has stated that fully vaccinated people can be outdoors in small groups without a mask although indoors and on public transit masking is required.


The traffic is back to normal although it seems that people are driving faster than they were last year, something borne by an analysis of the roadways. Outdoor festivals are being planned again although masking is being required to attend, and the Jersey Shore is readying itself for a busy summer after last summer’s bust.


So what have we learned from our year of enforced solitude? Hopefully, the value of community and the importance of other people in our lives, even those whom we do not know personally.  There is no longer an eerie silence in the streets.  Just seeing people alive and well continues to give us hope that we will survive this dreaded disease as a society.  But we must remember that the behavior of a community protects all of us.


Prayer for the Day


The light of your revelation grows among us, O God,        

     A gleam of sunlight you give us in the lengthening days       

Forgetful of your sovereignty over our seasons and our fears,             

     We remain bundled by our fear of others we do not know.

Help us erase the habits which freeze our hearts

      And teach us the joy of compassion and the warmth of love,

We ask this in the name of him who is your light,   

        Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen


Thoughts for the Day


It is spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart.

                        Rainier Maria Rilke, Austrian poet (1875-1926)


That is one good thing about this world...there are always sure to be more springs.

                        Lucy Maud. Montgomery, Canadian writer (1875-1942)


Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God;

  For our God is gracious and a song of praise is fitting.

God heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.

  God determines the number of stars and gives to all of them their names.

Great is the Lord and abundant in power, God’s understanding is beyond measure.

                        Psalm 147: 1-5