John Louk

In Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest , an admirable teenage girl, Miranda, has been stranded on an island for most of her life with her bitter father. She utters these iconic words when she discovers several new people for the first time. “O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in’t!” (Act 5, Scene 1, 181-184) In reality, the quote is probably meant to be ironic or display Miranda’s naïveté (many of the people she meets are not goodly at all!). Still, Shakespeare’s line is often used now when we embark on a new challenge or adventure in life. For us, COVID-19 is changing everything with many ungoodly things, but a world of possibility awaits. We go forth into this brave new world as the visible community of Jesus, showing the world what it means to be the world that God intended in creation. But what does this look like, especially when we can gather in-person again? Going back to the building doesn’t...

Well, that was fast. And just like that, everything changed. We have a whole new reality because of this novel coronavirus. And we’re greatly concerned about the people in the path or in the wake of COVID-19 and the effect it’s having on so many other areas of life. Salem is closed and all in-person events, including in-person worship, are canceled. Our denomination’s General Conference that may have split the church has been postponed from May until next year. Now we know we won’t even be able to gather in-person for Easter Sunday. Many of us are hunkered down in our homes. We’re practicing physical distancing. Some of us are still working. Some of us are going a bit stir-crazy, and some of us are anxious, depressed, uncertain, lonely. How do we move forward with all of this change? When my wife’s mom died in December 2018, Joy and her siblings began going through their parent’s home to get it ready to sell. Joy started bringing items to our home. Many of you have experienc...