“Hey, can we talk?” He turned in his chair, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
“Sure, come on in.” I could see how tired he was. We’re all tired these days.
“Do you think they’re doing the right thing?” I curled up in the chair next to him.
He knew what I was talking about. Our church was going ahead with multiple Christmas Eve services, even though other churches in the city had cancelled theirs in light of the rising COVID cases.
“I don’t know. People come to church at Christmas who would never come otherwise.”
“I know. But how many of them actually … stay? After a Christmas program?”
He rubbed his eyes again.
“I don’t know, I don’t know the numbers.”
I pressed on.
“How many people do you think are leaving the church? Because of how the church has handled all of this?” I waved my hand in the air.
“Lots. I know, lots.” He turned back to face the screen, rubbing his forehead.
“What do you think is the right way to handle it?”
He didn’t answer me for a long time.
“I think …” he hesitated, and I could tell he was trying to figure out how to say what he wanted to say without making me mad. “I think there is no right way to handle it. I think it’s one of those things … we’ll ask when we get to heaven. ‘Hey, God, remember that pandemic? How did you want the church to handle it?’” He shrugged. “I know you like things wrapped up in a bow. Rights and wrongs. Definite answers. But I don’t think you’re going to get one here. I don’t think we’re going to get one in our lifetime.”
I sighed. Sometimes I really hate it when he’s right.
“So then - what do we do?”
“Love people.” He reached for the Tylenol bottle on the desk. I think he’s had a headache for the better part of two years now. “Love God, and love people. That’s it. That’s what we know so that’s what we do.”
That’s what we know, so that’s what we do.
He makes it sound so easy.
“Which people?” I want to ask, but I know he’ll say “All of them.”
And I know he’ll be right.
Sometimes I really hate it when he’s right.
Because I’ve never struggled to love others as much as I have over the past two years.
As much as I have over the past week.
And I’ve never been sitting on so many drafts, filled with so many swear words.
Love God and love people, he says.
Hrmph.