March 30, 2022

Beloved in Christ:

In times of turmoil and war and anxiety like we are in now, one of the questions I hear most (and ask myself), is “What can I do?” We can’t do much on our own, can we? But one thing we can all do is pray. Pray about our own relationship with God, about our family, our neighborhood, our work and our world.

In the next few weeks, a new structure will appear in the Oasis Garden at Calvary. I was inspired by an outreach I saw in an Episcopal church in Chattanooga. The congregation, which is downtown like we are, built a simple prayer wall. It’s constructed out of a wooden frame with chicken wire stretched across the middle. We are going to have one here too. I took my idea to Rev. Paul Ehling and the Vestry, and they gave the thumbs up. The invitation will be for anyone who walks along our block, no matter what tradition they are from, to take a ribbon from a wooden box, say a prayer, and tie the ribbon to the wire. There will be a sign of invitation and instruction and the “wall” will be fastened securely to one side of the red brick wall dividing our Memorial Garden from the sidewalk. It’s important in this project to remind everyone that the wall for that Memorial Garden holds only the plaques of the names of the beloved saints whose ashes are buried in the ground on the other side of the wall. No ashes are in the wall itself.

Our prayer wall will become a sign to the world of God’s grace and love, and an inclusive invitation for all people to create a tangible and public statement of their faith in God’s power in everyone’s lives to create peace, healing and love. This is an experiment in taking the mission of Calvary out into the public square and in so doing, reminding everyone that God is everywhere; God flows and works in the world, on the sidewalks, in medical buildings, in everyone’s lives, calling all humans to wage reconciliation and love. And, God heals.

No one knows today how long we will keep the wall there, but certainly until the snow flies again. If you would like to help maintain the wall, work on obtaining and cutting ribbon, and be a part of this new ministry, please give me a call or email. Let us pray.

In peace, and gratitude,
Beth+