The following was intended to be Sharon's April Bellringer article. We are not creating a traditional Bellringer this April but we are posting several columns here in our articles section.
… where there is doubt, faith; A Prayer attributed to St. Francis, BCP page 833
I’ve heard there’s an old saying: May you live in interesting times. I think we’re there. In all my life I’ve never experienced a time when the world seemed to have been so completely turned upside down as it has by the coronavirus pandemic. Oh, I remember well how frightened my parents were when I developed a stiff neck in the summer of 1953, at the height of the polio epidemic. They took me to the doctor who’s only advice was, well, keep an eye on her. We were due to leave for Florida the next morning and so we did. It never occurring to anyone that we should stay home. Happily, I fell asleep in the car the first day of the three day drive, sweated profusely in the heat of the August first sun, and awakened to announce my neck didn’t hurt anymore. Others weren’t so lucky, but since no one understood how polio was transmitted, no one knew what steps to take to prevent that from happening. Fast forward to today, when we do understand disease transmission much more clearly. As a result, we find ourselves doing our best to live our lives as normally as possible when frankly almost nothing seems normal. Suddenly we’re faced with no corporate worship, no school, no sports to watch or participate in, and a new haunting awareness to keep our distance from others, wash our hands and sanitize surfaces, all while doing our best as the British would say, to Keep Calm and Carry On.
Still, at the same time as we take reasonable precautions to keep ourselves and others healthy, there are things that we as a Christian community can do to help each other thrive during this oddly challenging time. Even though we can’t come together for worship, we can still stay in touch, reaching out to family, friends, and neighbors both to say hi, as well as to check on whether or not they may need a little extra support right now. A simple phone call can really brighten the day of someone who feels strangely cut off as social distancing causes events to be cancelled. Those who feel comfortable going out in public can offer to run errands for those who may feel they need to stay at home. Perhaps more important than anything else, we can project the quiet confidence that comes from knowing that no matter what the circumstances, we are never truly alone. Doing our best to let others know they are not alone either may be the most effective way we can live into our call to be the hands and heart of God during these extraordinary times. Fear is as much a danger as the virus after all, but Love is always more powerful than fear.
