THOUGHTS FROM COVID 19 ISOLATION
Pandemic
By Lynn Ungar
What if you thought of it
as the Jews consider the Sabbath –
the most sacred of times?
Cease from travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now,
on trying to make the world
different than it is.
Sing. Pray.
Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down.
And when your body has become still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives
are in one another’s hands.
(Surely that has become clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.
Promise this world your love –
For better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
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This poem brings our covid 19 practices into the realm of the sacred. It reminds us that now, during this time of ‘social distancing’ we can’t use I-just-don’t-have-the-time as an excuse to neglect each other or to neglect God. Instead, we can reach out through social media, write notes or start a journal.
Online masses in empty churches remind Vincentians that some of those who came before us lived in times when the Eucharist wasn’t always available to the faithful. When Blessed Rosalie was a young girl her family hid priests during the persecution of the Church in France. Seeing how the Church, both laity and clergy, kept going was an inspiration to her.
My Prayer: May seeing how we, the Church today, keep the faith and live our vocation of service, bring others close to you, our God.
Keep praying and maintaining social distancing!
Denise
