“It was a strange and disorienting week. One full of grief, and bewilderment, and anger, and fear….legitimate fear. The capital was stormed; lives were lost; there was mayhem and sedition, and the leader of our country was worse than silent. We thought we were leaving the craziness behind in 2020, but the first days of 2021 haven’t been very sane.

One of the beauties of gathering each week, in God’s company, is that our weeks are always brought into another context. Today, with our gospel reading, we are brought to the sandy banks of the Jordan River. Mark makes it a point to say that there were a lot of people there: “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him.” It’s Mark’s way of saying, everyone was there. Everyone you know, your whole neighborhood, your whole street….they are there. We are there, too.”

Lectionary Readings:
Genesis 1:1-5
Acts 19:1-7
Mark 1:4-11
Psalm 29