What an amazing moment in our communal life this week has been. Last Sunday, about 160 folks from St Michael’s/San Miguel gathered for Eucharist and a picnic in Wilshire Park. It was like church on steroids: the service included a dramatization of the gospel of the day, Fr. Beto officiated at a wedding, and the Profile Committee handed off the Parish Profile to the Search Committee. That means that interested parties can now express an interest in being considered for Rector. Kudos to Barb and her Profile team!

The gospel text this Sunday is familiar, Luke’s Good Samaritan. It’s simple: a man suffers assault and lies beside the road. Good and religious people pass by, for many reasons. Then a man who no one would guess has it in him stops and cares deeply for the fallen man, binding his wounds, finding him a place to rest and heal, showing him mercy.

On the Third Sunday in Lent, we heard St Paul remind the Corinthian Christians, “So if you think you are standing, watch out that you do not fall.” This verse has been reverberating in my head this week, as we keep hearing of fully vaccinated and boosted friends testing positive for Covid. Hospitalizations and deaths are nowhere near what they were even months ago, but we are not out of the woods yet. So, be careful out there, and be patient. We’re going to be in this yo-yo-ey world for a while.

Over the last few weeks, I was blessed to visit my favorite retreat center (a Buddhist dhamma hall in Onalaska, Washington, at the foot of Mount St. Helens) to sit in silence for ten days of meditation. I’ve been known to joke—if asked for a strange fact about myself—that one of my quirks is that I am able to sit eerily still for intimidating amounts of time.