Dear Church,

Below are links to Sunday’s audio. You might want to have a candle and match handy.

During this unsettling time it is helpful for us to have small rituals in our lives, the morning coffee in a particular chair, the afternoon walk down a familiar path, the daily chat with an old friend, and a happily anticipated evening libation as the sunsets. Don’t you find these small pleasures to be especially welcome? I do. Lighting candle(s) with intentionality, quiet prayer, and deep-into-the-belly–through-the-nose-slow-breathing is restorative. (The value of such breathing is well documented whether we pray or not: Check out James Nestor’s book, Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art. Who knew there was so much to learn about breathing? Apparently, many of us don’t do it right!) Anyway, take care of yourselves. Remember to whom you belong. God is good all the time.