Greetings in the Name of the Lord, 

This is our final week of reflecting on what we lost during the pandemic and giving space for lamenting what was lost. For our final week of reflections, we take time to look at the ways hope was wounded. 

One thing that was damaged was a hope rooted in progress.  There was an assumption that things would only get better and better, and yet something as small as a virus was able to disrupt so many patterns in our lives and shift so many routines. It undermined how many of us understood health care and the medical field, it shifted our resolve that technology would find an answer, as we spent weeks and months waiting for answers, navigating advice that could often change week to week in ways that made it feel like no one actually knew what was going on. It made us question other areas of progress and wonder what was really possible.

We are still struggling to find specific language for the grief we experienced, loses that were diffuse that compounded over time. As the days rolled into weeks and weeks into months, we found it difficult to track the million little paper cuts we experienced over that time. We feel it within us but have a hard time naming the specifics.

We also learned, in subtle ways, to fear gatherings and people we did not completely trust. It was not the fear of invaders or fear of an unknown group of others, but rather a subtle fear of our neighbors, an uncertainty on how to interact beyond the home and our small bubble of folks we were allowing ourselves in interact with. We are still relearning how to be in community again, we are reaching back to remember how things used to flow, while living into our new reality.

None of what I have presented over the last few weeks has been easy.  But the opportunity to name and lament and acknowledge, it creates room for healing, and by doing it slowly and intentionally over the course of five weeks, we have paced ourselves, reminded ourselves of the importance of patience, of not trying to rush immediately to the outcome, just like one cannot rush healing after a surgery or an illness.  In the same way we will heal, we can give ourselves the time and the space for things to reform.  Ideally if we give it the time it really needs, it will heal stronger, even though the scars will still be there.

If something in here hit you particularly hard this week, take the time to take to a loved one, someone you deeply trust, reflect on these realities.  Next week I will prep us for heading into Holy Week and ways we can bring our concerns to God in prayer.  

In Peace,

Mike