A new ice cream store had its grand opening downtown last night. My family decided we’d like to try it out so we piled into our car, with a fully vaccinated friend and drove downtown after dinner. We got close and saw a line running out the door and half a block down. People were wearing masks, but not social distancing. My family decided they weren’t comfortable in that situation, so we moved on. We tried another downtown ice cream place, but it also had a line out the door. The third place we tried was something (finally) we were comfortable with. There was a line, but it was all outside. For the first time, we stayed and ate on outdoor furniture, with others eating nearby. It was a new experience — not too overwhelming. A good first entry into eating around more people.
We passed a number of different outdoor gatherings with lots of people on blankets and camp chairs, socially distanced listening to music, watching videos, and more. It is such a joy to see our community testing the waters as we try different ways of regathering.
I am doing this week’s Rector Reflection video from inside the St. Luke’s building, so you can see what it is like to be in our space. We have re-set the chairs to be in grouping of 2 to 5 chairs and there are roughly 100 in the space. We will have 2 indoor in-person services in June, at 9:30 on June 6 and 20. (More information next week after we hear the new Diocesan Guidelines.)
Be gentle with yourself as you test the waters of regathering with others outside your pod. And if you’re 100% ready now, please be gentle with others by wearing a mask and keeping social distanced as requested. We’re in a tender time with individual comfort levels varying widely from one to another, and even within one person from moment to moment.
May all our actions, all the time, embody our love for neighbor.
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