Camille Pissarro was a Danish-French Impressionist and Post-Impressionist. He lived from 1830 to 1903. A Path in the Woods, Pontoise, is an Impressionistic work on a very common, almost trite subject – the path.  I hope it holds a particular and generative appeal as we look at it now. This lovely work of quick, visible brush strokes and dappled sunlight leads us to tints of sky blue with the deepest values being in the distance and above us. Through the pervasive, burdening weight of the undergrowth and trees in shades of earth and autumn, our eyes are drawn to a three-sided place of openness and light. This work seems an apt visual for the day before the election with its contrasts of dense uncertainty and blue-sky hope.

You may bring much to this beautiful scene on this day. Today, as we try to face down the stress of tomorrow, we can feel that we walk through an unsettling, dense uncertainty. That is true but not exclusive to tomorrow. Uncertainty is the theme of the world and our place in it. Life is always random but on most days most of us can ignore that it is. We have crafted lives we believe are insulated from much that could happen. We have agency and means and can forget our vulnerability. But we are fragile beings always and we are God’s beloved children always also. Because of God’s love, we can keep walking on a path like this one noting the sunlight and the blue ahead. We can walk humbly in mercy and gratitude to whatever is next and we can now and always take the hands of those who may falter along the way.

We are in the world and not of the world. We believe in the triune God and in faithfulness. So, let’s keep breathing, praying, loving, and walking. Tomorrow is another day in eternity and all will be well somehow.  Even if we face a long path and maybe weeks of election uncertainty, let’s just keep walking knowing God will guide our feet. Amen.

In hope and faith,

Sandy Prouty

Minister of Children and Families

Montview Church