A Coronavirus Gathering | Intro: Blue Skies

Already suffering through abusive childhoods, lost loved ones, intimate betrayals, dying dreams, broken marriages, mental and physical illness, a Gathering of dear friends was preparing to meet with a focus on lament when the CDC declared a pandemic.

More than a month after postponing our Gathering, most of us sheltering at home, we received requests to connect our community in creative fashion, either blog or Zoom. In the oxymoronic belief we can be alone together, we decided to do both.

During the next few days, we will share blogs containing writing, recorded songs, testimony, links to art, and original music videos — online presentations of the elements prepared for our previously scheduled time together.

In naming these blogs, A Coronavirus Gathering, I accept the risk I might get arrested by an officer wearing a Darth Vader helmet due to a shortage of medical masks.  We invite you into this virtual experience — to share fears, hope, gospel, worship, and some sense of community.  

We begin by sharing the end — hope. As we process lament together, we hold onto the reality that Blue Skies will come again. This original music video, created by Tim Allmond and Rob Wilkins, starts and ends us with a reminder of Good News.