Today is Monday, March 30 and boy has it ever been a Monday. I don't know about your experience but just about everything took extra effort and nothing seemed to work on the first try. I had been irritated that the blog I had written and scheduled for Saturday had never appeared. After digging in the website I couldn't explain why it did not auto post but I did get it up. But as I was digging around in the back end of the website - I kept finding more work and none of it was what I wanted to be doing.
Perhaps, it's just the day. Perhaps it's because we are beginning week 3 of physical distancing and we know we have more. I don't have a really good answer. I know that grief in this time is real and it shows up for all of us in lots of different ways. And yet we are all still here.
I was out walking yesterday with my older kids and a snake crossed our paths. Luckily, one of them saw it and we were able to retreat safely. Some of you know that I panic with snakes. I had some very bad experiences as a child that I'm still working through. As they described it we were pretty sure it was a poisonous one and we decided to walk in the complete opposite direction. We talked and thought about not just the snake, but our need to be physically distant from those we love and like. As we talked I was reminded that often times of difficulty are times of great creativity. So I challenged us to find something creative to do every day. Maybe it is drawing, singing, coloring,
gardening, baking, the list goes on and on and on. So I challenge each of us to do the same. You can send pictures of what you're doing to faithfannettumc@gmail.com and I will find ways to safely share them. We have an opportunity to do things we may not usually have time. For me, when nothing technologically went right, I put yeast, sugar and water in a bowl and after waiting a few minutes added powdered milk, salt, flour and softened butter. After working, waiting, baking, something went right today.
From Psalm 146:1 - Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. I will praise the Lord. Will you join me: Gracious God, may your Spirit remain within us, so that no matter how we feel, we know that we are never alone. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.