It's now become the routine to log onto the Internet and sign into our virtual church website, rather than pack up the car and drive to the church building. There are things I like about "virtual church", especially the "virtual lobby" where we can chat with each other before our session starts.
But writing the above sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, out of a Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov story.
But writing the above sounds like something out of a science fiction novel, out of a Ray Bradbury or Isaac Asimov story.
It is just not the same as approaching someone in real life, feeling a tactile hug, the polyester knit or cotton cloth of someone's dress or suit against your face when you hug them; feeling the squeeze of their arms around you, hearing them ask how you are. Smelling the coffee in the lobby area, hearing the praise team warming up, standing up to pray, sitting down in the pews, being able to talk face to face with your preacher or with your fellow church members.
How long, I wonder, before we will all be able to do that again?
But today, still imprisoned by an invisible virus, we listened to our preacher, whose words are not imprisoned. (Paul reminded Timothy in 2 Timothy that "God's word is not chained.") I took away two important points from his sermon today:
1. Just because you feel the fear doesn't mean you don't have faith. It's okay to accept the circumstances of where we are at the moment. My go-to phrase, it seems, has become "That stinks" because what we are dealing with right now, let's face it, does stink. When I'm exceptionally bothered, I will use the phrase, "That sucks." Certain things do suck right now. Staying home gets old. There is only so much organizing you can do before you organize yourself out of your own house. There is only so much cleaning you can do. There are only so many times I can listen to some of my husband's and son's conversations. There are only so many times they can listen to mine.
1. Just because you feel the fear doesn't mean you don't have faith. It's okay to accept the circumstances of where we are at the moment. My go-to phrase, it seems, has become "That stinks" because what we are dealing with right now, let's face it, does stink. When I'm exceptionally bothered, I will use the phrase, "That sucks." Certain things do suck right now. Staying home gets old. There is only so much organizing you can do before you organize yourself out of your own house. There is only so much cleaning you can do. There are only so many times I can listen to some of my husband's and son's conversations. There are only so many times they can listen to mine.
The circumstances of where we are are fearful ones. I've started to worry when I go out, am I going to pick up the virus? Am I going to get sick or maybe make my husband or son sick? Today my son and I went for a fast trip to pick up French fries (which weren't in the order I picked up at Kroger yesterday because they weren't available.) I think I freaked Matthew out when I wiped down the handle of the grocery cart with a wipe before he took it back to the carrel. But the thing is, my fear is not unfounded these days. If any of you remember the TV series Monk, about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he carried around wipes wherever he went. Most of his fears were unfounded . . . but these days, worrying that you just might get sick from a trip to the grocery store isn't necessarily unfounded.
Yeah, I admit, I feel fear. I am glad our preacher said today that feeling fear didn't mean you didn't have faith. I dislike it when people who have fear and who express their fear are shamed for it. "Don't you know that there are 365 'fear nots' in the Bible? That's one for each day!" "We're not slaves of fear! We have the spirit of God!" Well, Jesus did tell his disciples not to be afraid, but he never shamed them for feeling the fear.
2. Sometimes you have to behave better than you feel. Don, our preacher, mentioned that he disliked the phrase "fake it till you make it". It's a phrase that's often used in recovery. I think, though, that "behaving better than you feel" may be what people sometimes mean when they say "fake it till you make it". There are times when I want to yell at my son, at my husband, behave badly to people in public. But I can't. Or rather, I choose not to because the consequences of my momentary loss of temper could be very severe. (There are people in Washington, DC that I wish would learn the lesson of behaving better than you feel!)
Don also talked about fatigue: flu fatigue, virus fatigue, staying at home fatigue. I have it. It is hard, being under "stay at home" orders, knowing you can't go out when you want to and where you want to. It's even harder, exponentially harder, when you are one of those on the "front lines", delivering groceries, checking people out at the store, nursing the ill, caring for the ill, trying to minister in whatever way you need to. And I cannot put myself in the shoes of someone who IS ill, or a loved one of someone who is ill or dying.
This afternoon I took a nap, to deal with the physical fatigue. And I am poking around on my genealogy and working on other writing. Perhaps that will be a couple of things that will help with the "lockdown fatigue".
I shared tonight in our small group's Zoom meeting that spring would always come, and that summer and winter would not cease.
2. Sometimes you have to behave better than you feel. Don, our preacher, mentioned that he disliked the phrase "fake it till you make it". It's a phrase that's often used in recovery. I think, though, that "behaving better than you feel" may be what people sometimes mean when they say "fake it till you make it". There are times when I want to yell at my son, at my husband, behave badly to people in public. But I can't. Or rather, I choose not to because the consequences of my momentary loss of temper could be very severe. (There are people in Washington, DC that I wish would learn the lesson of behaving better than you feel!)
Don also talked about fatigue: flu fatigue, virus fatigue, staying at home fatigue. I have it. It is hard, being under "stay at home" orders, knowing you can't go out when you want to and where you want to. It's even harder, exponentially harder, when you are one of those on the "front lines", delivering groceries, checking people out at the store, nursing the ill, caring for the ill, trying to minister in whatever way you need to. And I cannot put myself in the shoes of someone who IS ill, or a loved one of someone who is ill or dying.
This afternoon I took a nap, to deal with the physical fatigue. And I am poking around on my genealogy and working on other writing. Perhaps that will be a couple of things that will help with the "lockdown fatigue".
I shared tonight in our small group's Zoom meeting that spring would always come, and that summer and winter would not cease.
I also told them what I shared with the checkout person at the grocery store today.
Matthew made a comment about Easter, and I said that Easter was going to be next week. The checkout girl said, "If they let us." I said, "I don't know if you're Christian or not (she said she was) but nothing can stop us from saying that Jesus is risen."
Matthew made a comment about Easter, and I said that Easter was going to be next week. The checkout girl said, "If they let us." I said, "I don't know if you're Christian or not (she said she was) but nothing can stop us from saying that Jesus is risen."
That is a fact that no flu fatigue, no coronavirus, no lockdown, no stay at home order can circumvent or reverse. Jesus will not go back into the grave just because we are on lockdown!
Spring will come. Easter will come. Resurrection will be remembered.
In the meantime, let me put my tongue firmly in cheek and sing our theme song:
It's the end of the world as we know it
Spring will come. Easter will come. Resurrection will be remembered.
In the meantime, let me put my tongue firmly in cheek and sing our theme song:
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
It's the end of the world as we know it
And I feel fine!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
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