Lately, I’ve found it challenging to proceed with normal life when so many NOT NORMAL circumstances are developing around me. How about you? I didn’t really think that I was very busy with outside events and gatherings but it seems I have a lot more quiet time at home now. Part of me welcomes that, and then there’s the other part that seems to waste that time wandering about looking for something “important” to do. It’s like the path ahead has suddenly gotten blocked by obstacles, kind of like this foot bridge that I came across yesterday.
I often head to the woods when I’m frustrated and need a new and bigger perspective. There’s a foot trail there that gets some snowshoe traffic in winter but is primarily a spring/summer/fall path. Yesterday it presented a pretty good metaphor for life in this singular time of worldwide concern over COVID 19. There were places in the trail that were soft with mud, other places where the hard packed snow made it slippery and impossible to climb the grade. One time when I stepped out onto an innocent looking flat area, the ice got me and I fell. I was thankful I had my hiking pole along (and that no one was watching me trying to get up…).
In spite of all that, the bigger perspective was there and I found it. The forest is getting ready for spring. The streams have lost their cover of ice and the sound of moving water is everywhere. The snow is wet and waterlogged where the sun shines and cold, hard and dead where it’s in the shade. It’s days are numbered and short. The cold air from the ground, like from a freezer door left open, is no match for the sun’s warmth on these longer days. The beautiful contrast could be seen everywhere I looked. I am so thankful for seasons, and promised change.
I found these little notes, written back in April 2016, with goals/aspirations for the future. Some had been accomplished, some not so much. They were kind of like a message from God (and my former self) affirming that progress had been made, but there were still worthy things to put my hand to, and what better time than now? I spent a couple happy hours going back to a long overdue project.
I’m not worried. God is providing a path through this. I’m proceeding.
Would you give me a comment telling how “social distancing” has given you a new routine at home or a new focus in your life?
I Just Have to Say... 
Strangely my life has barely changed. Except for no school for Sam, it feels pretty regular. But I am less rushed than usual. And I am cleaning a LOT, because that’s how I cope with stress related to things I have no control over. But I enjoy it, so it’s not a chore. And with the future being so uncertain, I am feeling grateful for every day that life feels ok. I am experiencing a lot more gratitude and joy in the little things I’ve spent most of my life overlooking. So that has been nice.
You were up pretty early thinking on this, girl. What quiet, peaceful thing were you enjoying? It’s so strange (and strangely comforting) to have the whole world affected and not just us.
I’m finding I take time to enjoy tasks I used to rush through, things like preparing dinner. For example, I’m more mindful of how I chop my vegetables, taking time to make them
pretty.
So good! The restfulness of not rushing through our cooking…
Shirley,
Your writing helps to close the “social distance” thanks for this.
Would you be willing to write a weekly reflection that we can share church-wide during these days?
Chad McCallum
Yes, of course. I could do something like “Monday Moment” the length of a short blog post. Would that be ok?