“I’m living with less sleep and more doom and gloom feelings. But I’m OK.”

It was not an unusual message to start my day. The news feed on my phone regularly reports the death toll from the virus, the financial toll from the stock market, and now the skyrocketing of unemployment as our economy grinds toward a halt. 

Mortality seems closer. Hope seems more distant. Doom and gloom, indeed. 

As we settle in for a likely prolonged period when the word “normal” will shift its meaning, I find myself buoyed – held up – by unexpected gifts received from unexpected places:

         The message from an old friend not heard from in years…

         The email that says nothing more than “Sending love”…

The ivy that persists in its attempt to overgrow our front yard…

The poems and prayers shared in virtual space made holy by depth of care and strength of heart…

This morning, I returned to this poem which I received from several sources a few days ago. Some of you will, no doubt, have received it as well. The author is a mother of two young children from Seattle who was much surprised when her writing went viral.

Prayer for a Pandemic

By Cameron Bellm

May we who are merely inconvenienced

Remember those whose lives are at stake.

May we who have no risk factors

Remember those most vulnerable.

May we who have the luxury of working from home

Remember those who must choose between preserving

Their health or making their rent.

May we who have the flexibility to care for our children

When their schools close 

remember those who have no options.

May we who have to cancel our trips

Remember those who have no safe place to go.

May we who are losing our margin money

In the tumult of the economic market

Remember those who have no margin at all.

May we who settle in for a quarantine at home

Remember those who have no home.

As fear grips our country,

Let us choose love.

During this time when we cannot physically

Wrap our arms around one another,

Let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God

To our neighbors.

In this month when we, in worship, have focused on the theme of humility, I have been constantly reminded of the privilege in which I live and the need to live out the theology that I am privileged to preach…that there is a love that has never broken faith with us and never will. That ours are the only hands on earth to make that love real. That we are agents of the redemption of the world.

Stay safe. Practice love.

Blessings,

Bill