We would like to thank many of you for your continued support of Touchstone through these uncertain times. We are grateful.

Like many of you, while we continue to have meetings and conversations using Zoom, we have also had many in person encounters this summer and fall- including retreats, dinners and walks on the trail.

A year ago I was thinking about parallel advents – the season of anticipation in celebrating the birth of Jesus paralleled our anticipation of vaccines to alleviate the confinement of the pandemic. So it is that time of year again and the longed-for vaccines have certainly been a benefit but there has been much anger, confusion, and division in our communities as well.

At a recent Touchstone Zoom Board Meeting my ministry report included some of these thoughts.

On September 5th I returned from a walk and settled in for some quiet reflection on the story of Jesus borrowing Peter’s boat as a platform to address the crowds pressing him on the shore. Maybe to pay for the use of the boat he tells Peter to push out and try fishing again after a night of catching nothing. Not really expecting this to be any different Peter does it nonetheless and the miracle catch ensues. Peter’s reaction is to fall on his face in fear with a keen sense that he is a “sinful” man.

Summer’s longer days approach and our anticipation of more opportunity to be together outdoors gives us hope. With skyrocketed lumber prices your deck or dock is either worth more than it was last year, or it will be many times more expensive to repair or build. Patios, nature walks, lakefront bike rides may be other ways we enjoy the warmth and light of late spring and summer together.

When will the need for a downtown space for our work be necessary again? What or where is the Marketplace? How has the virtual world of business created a new way of friendship and relationships for good and/or bad? That’s one thread I’ve been picking at lately.