Philippians 4:13,14 (RSV)

Forgetting what lies behind me and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call off God in Jesus Christ. –

 Reflection:  This Worship Moment was written by Noreen Holbrough – thank you Noreen!

In the mid 50’s Doris Day made the song Que Sera very popular and in fact it became known as her signature song. It is so gentle and so reassuring that we are not in control. The three verses of the song progress from childhood, to young adulthood, to parenthood and asks “what will I be or what lies ahead” The chorus repeats “what will be will be.” That indicates a kind of cheerful fatalism. I thought that was a good answer to this pandemic and these unprecedented times – the future’s not ours to see, que sera, sera.

But then I began to think differently. What will be, will be! Yes! But we can take a much more positive outlook and have some control over our destiny. Or we can sit back and do nothing – que sera, sera.

When God told Noah there was to be a flood, did Noah say “que sera, sera”? No he built an ark and saved a nation. In tough times, Jeremiah said, “Here I am Lord. Send me.” It would have been easy for Moses to ignore God’s call but he led his people out of slavery.

So what can we do? We can continue to be creative. Many people say they had the best birthday ever as friends thought up different things to make the day special. Look at the virtual choirs, and graduations we have observed on TV. We can continue to give to the food bank, to call a lonely person, to be grateful for all we do have. And we can wear a mask to protect ourselves and others.  We can stay in our bubble. We can social distance and we can follow the arrows and go the right way in the grocery store. Look how well we have done in comparison to other countries.

I am only one but still I am one.

I cannot do everything but I can do something.

I will not refuse to do the something I can do.

     (Edward Everett Hale -also attributed to Helen Keller) 

Prayer-– Dear God, in these strange times help us to not be complacent . Encourage us to  continue to be ever mindful of the needs of others as Jesus taught us to be. Amen.

To Listen and Sing