I know this may sound strange, but I can feel the virus inside me. When I take a deep breath, it's there, lurking in my lungs. Fortunately it is not winning, not with me, not so far. But because I feel it, I keep resting. I fear that if I push too hard, I will give it room to grow and spread. And so I continue to rest. I believe that I will know when it is gone, and I hope that I will have been changed for the better.
Halfway through the first week of this virus, Jan shared this video with me. A colleague of hers from Romania got it from a colleague in Jerusalem. I keep watching it because I find it to be so powerful. The idea that the virus has shaken us, has stopped us, has undermined everything, and is giving us the opportunity to reimagine how we want the world to be challenges me with each viewing.
If we could create the world anew, what we we change?
How would we like to live differently?
How would we want to use our time, our money, our gifts?
One of the things I'm valuing in this time is reconnecting with so many people via Zoom and Facebook live and other virtual channels. If we weren't stuck in our houses, we wouldn't be making these connections. We'd think about it, sure, but there wouldn't be time. How can we do that differently going forward?
In the video the narrator says, "This virus is part of us. It's between us, in us." This virus is now in me; I can feel it. It's in us, between us, connecting us in ways we didn't expect. We are not alone. We belong to something greater than us. We belong to each other. My dear friends, maybe we're getting a do-over. With the earth, our fragile home. With each other. Someone asked me if I thought God was testing us. Of course it's possible, as I do not know the mind of God. But I don't believe that's what's happening. I believe God is with us in this, as God is always with God's people. I believe God redeems everything. I don't know how, but I already see so many signs of it.
Shelter in grace is a phrase I picked up from a reflection that came in my email. Shelter in grace, my friends. Listen to your bodies. Listen to the earth. Listen to each other. Listen deep inside. We may just have history's biggest do-over. We may have the chance to offer grace to this new world that's being birthed. When the virus leaves us, what will we choose to do?
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