Good Friday, April 2, 2021
Columbia, South Carolina
It has been a long year. I started my daily prayers for health care workers and first responders on March 23, 2020. That is the day I mark as the beginning of my own Covid-19 experience. Of course, the virus was already active and had begun to really impact New York City and other areas of the USA well before then. As we passed the one-year anniversary of Covid-19 in late March 2021 I was becoming more hopeful as the vaccine had begun to be rolled out in the USA. I felt hopeful even as I was fortunate to take the Pfizer vaccine, double shot, one in December 2020 and the follow up in January 2021. Yes, hope was rising and continues to rise.
It is Easter weekend. Today is Good Friday. Thankfully, I have some time off from work and I have time to pen this sixth edition of the Corona Chronicles. Here are some reflections of my own experience and struggle through the daily grind of the pandemic.
1. I have not liked having to wear a mask each day, at work, in the community when shopping, etc. It has been a great adjustment keeping one handy as I travel about. Yet, the mask is a lifesaver and has probably been one of the keys to sustained health for me. So, I press on with its use, hoping that one day I can get back to a place where I do not wear it. On a side note, I believe the mask has helped me and others stay safe from other respiratory viruses too. Wearing the mask naturally keeps airborne germs from being passed from one to another. All these precautions are not fail-safe, nor 100% effective, but I do believe they have kept many of us safe.
2. One day at a time. Yes, I am learning to live one day at a time. Staying with the daily tasks. Enjoying each day. Knowing that God is with me and I am with God in my daily work, grind, life.
3. One brick at a time. One task builds on another task. Life has been simplified for me, even more than in the past. One day’s accomplishment leads to another day and then another day, and then goal accomplishment.
4. People have died. I know many, many people who have died from Covid-19. Some were known from my work experiences and some from my personal life. All lives matter. It has been very, very sad to see. Grief is real. This past month, March 2021, my own mother died, and my aunt died in 2020. I do not believe that either one died from the effects of Covid-19, yet it has been a tough year. You know people who have died from Covid-19. All of us are grieving in our own way. I am trying to find ways to let myself actually “feel” and fully experience the losses. It means slowing down and letting all the feelings and experiences settle into my mind and soul. I hope you will do the same. We all grieve in our own ways and we also cope in our own ways. May God’s grace be with you as you go through your grief. I know I need God’s grace, now more than ever.
5. Hope is rising. The vaccine is helping communities to move toward herd immunity, one day at a time. School districts are talking about students getting more fully active in the classrooms again. Parents are hopefully feeling some sense of hope that the worst could be over. Businesses and owners and workers have endured great loss and suffering, and they are seeing signs that life may come back to a new normal, sooner than later. Families are gathering more. Grandparents are maybe seeing the grandkids more. Fear is declining and hope is rising, for the most part. These are my perceptions. I hope you are feeling hopeful, too.
Finally, Easter is upon us. For some Passover is too. Some are not religious. Some are spiritual. Some are neither spiritual nor religious. I pray that all who read this will find hope in their lives. For me, hope is rooted in my faith, in my loving family and friend connections, and in my purpose and mission on this earth. I am grateful for health and wellness, too. Without physical wellness we can experience pain, suffering, and losses. I am also thankful for emotional wellness and spiritual wellness. Of course, I have room to grow in all areas, but I believe hope is rising in my soul. I hope it is rising in yours. Let us keep an eye out for those who may be losing hope or even lost hope due to the pandemic. Needs are everywhere. May we see ourselves in the “least of these” on this fragile, fertile earth that we inhabit. May we realize that health and wellness can be lost and gained ever so easily and unexpectedly. May hope rise in your heart, now and going forward. For all these things, I hope and I pray, amen.
