O GOD OUR HELP IN AGES PAST

our hope for days (years) to come.
   I was simply astounded at the grocery store and W-Mart to see such empty shelves of paper products, pain relief, frozen veges, canned veges, peanut butter, etc. I usually do my shopping on Friday mornings and the grocery store had more people than usual on any given Fri. morning and there were check-out lines.
   I can understand being prepared but this panic is unhealthy. How much can people hoard especially items that will eventually expire?
   The man with 17, 700 hand sanitizers seeking to profit from this panic now has no where to sell them at inflated prices, taking advantage of a situation and vulnerable people. Donate the stuff back to the community and take a loss. It is people like you who prevent regular folks from being able to buy 2 bottles of hand sanitizers.
    We are still having church services at L church since we don't make the 100 people limit. We are offering Sat. communion with individual cups instead of intinction. We are suspending passing the
peace. But we are still worshipping in hope in the midst of this pandemic.
   We trust God who never fails us and who promises to be with us in all and any circumstances. May we be brave and courageous and still think of our neighbors. May we pray for the world and all who are ill, may we pray for families who will have their children home for the next 3 weeks, may we pray for doctors and nurses who are treating the ill, may we pray for microbiologist who are working hard to isolate this virus and find a way to curtail its spread. May we not panic or become too anxious, as we trust in the Lord our God. May the Holy Spirit lead us in creative ways to share hope and peace with the world. May families come back together to eat dinner around the table together,
have a night of board games and interact with one another. May they discover there are more important things than sports and all the other activities that so fill their lives. May they be lead to have good conversations and some quality time that bonds relationships forever.
   There will be graces even in the midst of this far-reaching, life altering (at least temporarily) pandemic. May we look for and see the presence of God and those graces even in this. May we
spend time in God's Word, in prayer, in reconnecting with God and with our families. May this slow down of our lives bring us in touch with what is most important, most dear to us.
    May stay healthy and well.