Greetings to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,

Sunday was a very tender day for many of us. It was a day of profound grief and immeasurable joy. I have discovered that both emotions bring me to tears and so Sunday was a very, very tender day. I was not alone in shedding tears of sadness over the loss of Julie M. Julie and Tracy have been a major force in our church, always generous with their time and talents. And, I saw many of you with “leaking eyes” when Anna and Tyler stood at the back as evidence of God’s miracles in our lives. Our family is forever grateful to you for your prayers and for those of you able to sit vigil as Anna healed from her illness.

It is strange to be in the “bittersweet” as we were yesterday, but I am wondering if we are not always living there. We never lose the grief that accompanies loss in our lives and we can always find a miracle in our lives if we look close enough. I think that is what being Easter People means. We are able to see the miracle in the presence of great sorrow. We can do so because we are God’s beloved children and we are never alone no matter where the pendulum is swinging. 

I enjoyed Max’s history lesson on Sunday. It is wonderful to belong to a congregation with so much history. And I am thankful that a newspaper article is the beginning for many folks. I also know that even if the newspaper brings people in, it is you, our loving and caring congregation, who keep people coming back. Saint Matthew has been revived several times in its history and we may face the need for a more modern intervention soon. But, the heart of our Lord joined to the heart of all of you keeps this church alive.

I am one of those “newspaper” people who wandered into St. Matthew after seeing the Meadowbrook News. But it isn’t any newspaper that keeps me coming back. It isn’t even my job there as associate pastor. I keep coming back, my family keeps coming back because of you. We love you dearly, Mary.