I dehydrate a lot of fruit as it comes fresh and local; one of my habits is a breakfast of oatmeal and fruit – and with dehydrated fruit, I can toss in a handful when I am cooking the oats, and enjoy the sweet taste of local produce year-round. It has some slight flavour variations, of course, but I find pure delight in those strawberries in the dead of winter.
The preservation process takes a little bit of time, and a little bit of work, but I find it worthwhile.
This reminds me of our spiritual journey in these times. Today, for the first time in months, we are gathering again in the church building. While we *know* that the church is the people and the ministries, it is empowering for so many to be in an ages-old house of prayer; a space filled with memories of spiritual nourishment for so long.
So today I’m thinking about what we keep – what we preserve. As we are heading ever forward (because backward in time really doesn’t work!), we are invited to do so with intentionality. We know that we are not “going back to normal” – as if a normal ever existed in the past. But what we are moving into can carry the aspects that were positive for us – that were nourishing for us. What we preserved from the past, in our traditions and memories and practices – can be the fruits for the future age of faith tradition.
So what are you preserving? What do you want to carry forward to a post-COVID church?
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