Reflections By Rev. Dan Bogre

Dear Friends and Family of RRUMC,

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Did you get your 55 gallon drum of hand sanitizer yet? As I write this Circuit Rider article, I am reflecting on the stores that I have been to in the last few days. All of them have signs that say, “We are out of hand sanitizer.”

The Coronavirus is all over the news, and rightfully so. It is a serious situation. The whole world is on edge and on alert as this virus spreads across the world.

As a result of those fears, the stock market is all over the place but mostly down. Large events around the world and here in the U.S. are being cancelled as a precaution.

I presided over a funeral just a couple hours ago of someone who was too young to leave the world. I watched as the family was trying to put together a new normal after losing someone they loved so dearly.

Even our dear old United Methodist Church is not immune to fear, uncertainty, and a future that seems to be hanging in the balance as we contemplate whether or not to split into two separate churches.

These are, at the very least, uncertain and tumultuous times. How are you dealing with them? Are your emotions running amuck as you stew about all of the things of this world swirling around you? Are your emotions dictating how you handle and react to the outside factors of this world?

There is a Scripture that has never spoken to me as much as it does in the midst of the storms that seem to be mounting and approaching from all different directions. It comes from Hebrews 13:8. It simply says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

The world is changing, erupting, crashing, and seemingly spinning out of control. I can either allow all those things to dictate how I live each day or I can take control of things. I cannot control all of those outside factors, but I can control how they affect me.

If I can remember that no matter what the world is doing all around me, Jesus is still Lord of my life, then I will live from the inside out.

It is that simple and that difficult at the same time. It is a decision that only you can make.

Coronavirus, stock market, the United Methodist Church; Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Peace and Blessings,

Rev. Daniel F. Bogre