What a week!  My head is spinning - and it's NOT because I'm infected!  It's because I've been trying to keep up with the changes.  As Buddy Miles said, "Well my mind is goin' through them changes."  But, "them changes" are coming so fast that I, and maybe no one, can keep up; in the words of Glenn Frey: "It's a losing proposition."  Last week was the very definition of volatility.  And, it will remain so, until, perhaps, this week.

 It's hard to even remember the "good old days" of just a few weeks ago - you know, when we had a healthy stock market, when sports were being played, when kids were planning and preparing for Proms, when we "knew" what tomorrow would bring.  Maybe we should have known better.  James, the brother of Jesus, told us long ago:

"Why, you don't even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  It is a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes."
- James 4:14

I nearly began my sermon Sunday with these words: "Welcome to the brave new world."  I didn't because of the images of a dystopian world those words would bring to our minds from the novel, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley.  On my way home from church, I heard a politician from another state being interviewed about the corona situation.  With barely controlled hysteria in his voice, he spoke of some frightening ideas as possible "next steps" - steps that reminded me of the Huxley novel.  Of course, the interviewer in no way challenged this politician's thinking, which was a shame because this would have been the perfect time for him to have ended the interview by saying, in his best Darth Vader voice, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."      

So, "church" was changed in some ways Sunday.  Norman Smith had a great line for me: "In one week, we went from free donuts to a donut-free zone."  Yep, and who knows what changes will happen in the future?  But, the truth is that The Church - the Real Church, the True Church - was unchanged Sunday.  Whether you gathered with us, or watched online, or worshiped in your own way, The Church is you, The Church is us.  May our faith remain strong in Him who holds the future in His hands.  

Huxley took the title of his book from "The Tempest", by William Shakespeare.  The complete line reads: "O wonder!  How many goodly creatures are there here!  How beauteous mankind is!  O brave new world that has such people in't".

These words reflect my thoughts and feelings for you.  And, I hope we all feel this way about our brothers and sisters at Tammany Oaks.  As we enter more times of uncertainty, let us be in prayer, let us seek ways to be a non-anxious presence, let us be ready to help where we can, and let us be ready to speak words of truth and grace and mercy to our friends and neighbors.  May The Lord bless you and keep you.

PS - I started typing this on the evening of March 15th [The Ides of March!].  There have been more changes since I began typing.  Who knows what the world will look like by the time you read this message?  Stay strong, my friends!

Shepherd Ambrose Ramsey