"It's Lent," I thought to myself. "Time to make some space." In the process of making this space I came across the name, number, and address of my friend William Barnwell. It stopped me in my tracks. Father Barnwell, a former associate rector at St. Martin's, died from COVID on March 27th of last year. "That number can stay," I thought to myself. "I'm not ready to delete it." Fr. Barnwell's great gift to the church was in his work of social justice and community building. He was great at bringing small groups of people together to talk, listen, and then act out the gospel. He was unapologetically liberal, and, yet, Washington Examiner conservative columnist Quin Hillyer called him one of the great teachers in his life. The Examiner would later do a full-page story about William. Such was his knack for bringing people together.

Earlier in the week, Caitlyn sent an email to our worship leaders and volunteers titled “The Big Email.”

I was excited and happy to hear about Johnson and Johnson's new vaccine. With three vaccines in play, getting people vaccinated will speed up exponentially. With that speed up and with numbers dropping, service schedules and times will be subject to change. Please pay attention to weekly emails as we are seeking to do more in-person services. The Tuesday noon services have been a success. Thank you to all who have attended. It is a blessing to be able to pray with you all.

Lent is the time of the year in which we move toward the cross, the crucifixion, and eventually Easter. During Lent, the Church calls us to repent of our sins. It calls us to a period of fasting, and it asks us to make amends in our lives where amends need to be made. In short, it is a time where we are asked by our tradition to make sure our relationships with God and Neighbor are right, good, and holy.

Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, a time when we remember our mortality. The words "you were formed of the Earth and to Earth, you will return" are used. We remember that we are dust.

Yesterday was a special day for Caitlyn Darnell as she was ordained to the priesthood. The service was beautiful. Over coffee this morning I reflected on this past year, the year ahead of us, and our path forward as a church with new leaders in place.

In a positive light, we are entering into a new stage of this pandemic. More and more people are being vaccinated, allowing more things to open up. I was moved by a picture this week of one of our grandparents hugging her grandchild. It was a special hug indeed. On another hand, this week we prayed in our Prayers of the People for multiple COVID-related deaths. Early in the pandemic, St. Martin's was, for the size of our organization, very lightly touched by COVID. Perhaps it is simply the law of averages, but now it seems like things are equaling out. Our need for safety remains as strong as ever.

If I were to write a book about this past week, the title would be "The Tale of two COVIDs." On one hand, many of our members age 70 and above are experiencing a sense

Yesterday, during the inauguration, I was moved by Amanda Gorman's poem. In particular, this verse "Scripture tells us to