**Thoughts from Our Bridge Pastor**

Rev. Barbara K. Peronteau

Recently, I saw an annoying commercial on TV. “Aren’t they all,” you might ask? This one was a few ticks more annoying than some of the others. With annoying music and an annoying voice, we are asked what we would do for a Klondike Bar? I’m thinking I would walk down to the bodega on the corner and reach into the little freezer full of various ice cream treats.

Apparently, that’s too easy. The person in the commercial ends up shaving his eyebrow off. Really? I’m wondering what the advertisers were thinking. Why make it so difficult to get a Klondike Bar? It should be as easy as going to the corner store. Easy peasy, right? I guess not. I just lost my appetite. I think I’ll get the Haagen Dazs instead.

The message of the advertisement goes against my Christian inspired ethics. I believe in grace. That through no effort on my own should grace, in all its manifestations, be something to achieve. Grace is already there. Unconditionally. We might need to learn how to live into that grace. But we do not need to earn it. It’s there. It’s as easy as going to the corner for a Klondike Bar.

The Klondike Bar commercial raises a variation on its question, “What would you do to stay alive?” This current plague is new to us, but not new to the human experience. Julian of Norwich was 7 years old when the Bubonic Plague hit Norwich, England in 1349. It came in waves returning in 1361 to 1364, 1368, 1371, 1373-1375, 1390, and 1405 and on into the 15th and 16th centuries as it spread throughout Europe, China, India, Syria, and Egypt. This is beginning to sound all too familiar. From the age of seven to her death Julian did not know a world without the plaque yet Julian’s faith in God never wavered.

Here at ACC, we have protocols (see elsewhere in the Parishscope) in place to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus and its Delta variant. What Julian wouldn’t do for a vaccine and a face mask! Our Protocols are as easy as walking to the corner for a Klondike Bar.

In the words of Julian of Norwich, “All will be well, and all will be well, and every kind of thing shall be well.”

Peace and wonder,

Rev. Barbara K. Peronteau