Dear Koonung Heights community,
How disappointing it is to hear that on Thursday, 9 July, we here in Melbourne begin
another six weeks of Stage Three restrictions.
I know that many of us had begun to enjoy the simple pleasures of family gatherings, of
coffees and lunches with friends, of limited travel. Our lovely Rev. Heather has had a
much-needed family holiday and has arrived safely back home.
Our church building is ready to for us to occupy once again, and your minister and elders
were making tentative plans for opening. Many of you have told us you are ready to come
back. But of course that will not happen for some weeks.
And now, we’re dumped again into the fear and stress of lockdown. For some of us it is
lonely and isolating; for others it means supervising children’s schoolwork at home while
they miss their school friends.
As I prepared this week’s prayers, I was deeply moved by rereading one of my favourite
Psalms, number 139:1-12. You might like to read it for yourselves, but verses 11 and 12
sang out to me in my sadness on Tuesday evening:
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light around me become night,”even
the darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day, for darkness is as light
to you.
For God, even this darkness is not dark, the night is as bright as the day.
The question then for us as people of even a mustard seed of faith – how can we help to
shine God’s light for others in this topsy-turvy time?
We know that for our own mental health it is important to acknowledge that these are
indeed difficult times and to be gentle with ourselves, accepting our feelings without
‘beating ourselves up’ about them.
We’ll remember from the first time around that having some routines helps us. You will
know what helps you. Perhaps part of your routine is ‘joining’ the on-line or on-paper
worship service at 10 am on Sundays, texting the peace to others and joining the Zoom
coffee hour afterwards.
Let me suggest something else. At Graham Ray’s recommendation, I’ve recently read
The Resilience Project by a local young man, Hugh van Cuylenberg. He suggests that we
live most resiliently when we have a three-point routine:
 Express gratitude each day for at least three things (he suggests a gratitude journal),
 Spend some time (even ten minutes during a walk) being mindful of our breath and of the moment we’re in, noting beauty where we see it, and
 Engage in one act of empathy or kindness each day.

Perhaps these three points can become an anchor for you and a way of helping to build up
our Christian community. The first two points might be your prayers – thankfulness and
mindfulness. The final point might be writing to or ringing one person each day in the
congregation whom you don’t normally reach out to.
Imagine the connections that might develop. People already comment that the Zoom
coffee puts them in touch with people they didn’t know well before Coronavirus.
Remember too that some people in our congregation have offered to run errands (such as
scripts or shopping) for others. Let Margaret Lord know if this would help you
(9890 2904).
You could extend your acts of kindness beyond the congregation. How will the wider
community hold together this time? You might send notes or emails of encouragement to
the newspapers and to the people locked in the towers.
While Rev. Heather will not be able to visit us in our homes, she will ‘visit’ you by telephone or by Zoom at any time. Please contact her if a conversation would be good.
All church communications will continue as they have previously – with deliveries into
your letterbox or your email inbox. And Rev. Heather and I will write to you again once
a date is set to return to worship. We are, of course, required to obey all the government
regulations.
For me, knowing that I am part of a caring community is uplifting in these strangest of
times. I hope that is also true for you. If we continue to care for our own mental health
and reach out to others, we will indeed help to shine God’s light in the world, even in
these dark times.
Although she is still on holidays, Rev. Heather sends her greetings and joins me in praying
that God’s blessings will rest on our entire community,
Harriet Ziegler