I had the
sad honour of officiating at an in-person Shiva minyan this week. It was the
first time I have stood (outdoors) together with other real-life humans in
prayer since all this began. And I was struck powerfully by something I had
forgotten – even with the wonderful sense of coming together with others in prayer
over Zoom. To stand together in prayer is such a wonderful thing.
In minyan,
we fold our private strengths and weaknesses in together and stand in humility before
a power greater than our imagination. There is space for our own journey. There
is space for us to recognise that ours is not the only journey. There is space
to support and be supported by others. And amongst all this, we are called to
acknowledge that we are not the single most important point of power in this
Universe. That’s a very powerful combination. Zoom is good, but it’s not the
same.
And we are
getting close to being able to re-open New London for in-person services.
Protocols and preparations are almost ready and will be shared with the
community early next week. It’s not going to be ‘normal.’ In our first stage of
opening, attendance will be limited ONLY to those who have signed up to attend
in advance. We will NOT be able to admit ‘walk-ups.’ Mask use, inside the
building will be compulsory. Communal singing will not be possible. Physical
distancing will be observed at all times and the service will be much
abbreviated (there, it’s not all bad news). It is a first stage and we are,
rightly, being extremely cautious particularly as we understand how the loosening
of lockdown impacts on contagion in our general society.
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