It has literally been years since I've written on this little blog of mine. Not sure why, but I do believe it has something to do with life happening. Yes, life. Life brings us new challenges, exhaustion at times, and just plain old old-fashioned distractions. Or, perhaps, some of our current distractions are not so ordinary, giving me yearnings to write once again!
We find ourselves in the grand year of 2020. The end of a decade; the cusp of the next. Eye doctors refer to 20/20 as perfect vision. Life with this COVID-19 thing has everything in most of our lives topsy-turvy, upside down and inside out and anything but perfect! It's as if we have found ourselves down the proverbial "rabbit's hole" or in some strange time-warped "Twilight Zone". Although medical experts had predicted a pandemic of this size for decades, it caught us all off guard. Every one of us. It took our eyes a while to actually focus on what our minds did not want to comprehend.
In just a few short weeks, we've seen such change! Handwashing 101 videos have us all realizing we never actually had learned the proper way to enact the most essential first line of defense against germs! We've all begun the practice of "Social Distancing" (whoever had even dreamed of that term before?). Folks have gone from ogling those critical care patients out among us who wear masks for protection from germs to donning our own homemade versions of protective gear that our US Surgeon General actually taught us to make! Home and personal cleaning products as well as paper goods literally evaporated from store shelves. Home schooling was a choice, currently a mandate. Online higher education? Once a choice, but now the norm. WFH is now a thing... Empty grocery aisles, empty parking lots, empty restaurants, empty doctor's offices, empty houses of worship have led to full homes, full hospitals, exploding numbers of online worship opportunities, and most surprisingly of all- full hearts!
In just a few short weeks, we've also borne witness to much love-one-anothering. Nursing homes for our most vulnerable have weekly parades and visits through windows to show residents they are not forgotten. Food banks and school feeding programs literally are keeping thousands well-fed. Local citizens line the streets with signs and chants of appreciation for medical personnel and first responders while others make sure nurses and doctors are fed. Teachers hold parades through school-zoned neighborhoods to let their students know they have not been forgotten. Neighborhoods are keeping children entertained by sidewalk-chalking pavements and displaying bears in windows for Bear Hunts. Parents are connecting with their children with unhurried expressions of warmth and security. I like to imagine more stories and books are being shared with little ones!
And yes, in oh so short of time, we've changed. Even when we all return to "normal", "normal" may look quite different. Handshake greetings may just go the way of the dinosaur. More frequent hand-washing will be highly encouraged and practiced. Ill folks will stay home to protect others. We'll treasure more than ever being in the presence of coworkers, extended family members and mere strangers and acquaintances. We may not mind so much getting up, getting dressed and going in to work. Children, teens (and their parents!) will look forward to a return to a school-normalized routine with increased feelings of gratitude for what educators naturally do with ease- love and support learners in ways previously unimagined and perhaps previously under appreciated. We will celebrate the return of in person sporting events, musical concerts and worship experiences. Scientists and medical personnel on the front lines of keeping us safe from microscopic enemies will be heralded as the heroes they are. We will forever mourn those who were lost and love even more those were saved and forever be thankful for the lessons we've learned.
Stay Safe! Stay Healthy!
Stay JOYful and Write On!
