Unprecedented! When you saw that word, what came to mind? I don’t know about you, but I’m wearying of that term. Seems everything that’s happening around us is “unprecedented” and,  along with that, some not so good news follows.

But something that’s unprecedented that’s really turning out good is my Sundays online. Some Sundays I’ve gone to all six services of the adults in my family. That took up most of the day and some days I took communion more that once. I heard new songs and attended all manner of services from ultra contemporary to ultra traditional. I felt like I was storing up church attendance in my Good Girl Box to draw from whenever I feel like sleeping in when this lock down is over.

But there’s yet another kind of service, and that is what my pastor puts together. I never knew he personified creativity. I never know where he’ll be on Sundays. One day the service opened up with him in the crawl space of church, another time he was outside blowing in the wind; today it looked like he was out in a field of grazing sheep.

He moves back and forth from his usual place on the pulpit to these creative places. Each place has a significant relevance to the text.

A field of sheep. What do you think the text was for today? Yes, you’re right. Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd…

Come on in! Church time.

Church on my iPad.

Pastor in field of sheep.

Text: The Lord is my Shepherd.

Hope to see you soon, in person!

I don’t dare leave my comfy recliner to get more tea; I might miss something. I’m captivated like never before. Communion, like we had today, has become more meaningful than I’ve ever felt in a large group at church. I sit here alone and ponder the words: The blood of Christ shed for you, the body of Christ broken for you.

In my living room, mind you, the body and blood of Jesus Christ. There are no new distractions. No noticing who is sitting in a different pew this week. No watching if the servers of communion miss a pew. No anxiety growing that I may drop the tray as it’s passed to me.

No, there’s just me with my front door open, with the nice weather now, my cup of chai, my iPad, and the pastor out in the field of sheep. And his challenge, Who is my shepherd? Who or what am I following?  How’s that working for me? Why not follow the shepherd? After all, Psalm 23 says,  The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

Think about it.

For now, I’m appreciating my unprecedented experiences of church.