“Our hearts already are prayer baskets, filled to the brim with sorrowful and fearful pleadings that God will finally have mercy on us, that in the meanwhile, God will give us the strength to continue day by day.”
“This is precious balm for our souls as we ourselves are facing the surge of this illness. We are all only as healthy as the most ill person among us. This is not only a statement of enlightened self-interest. This is not only a goad for us to return to the ideals of the common good and civic virtue that has been in reality a far-too-elusive goal throughout our history.”
We are living through a grievous situation and many separations, yet I find sometimes that a foolish hope persists.
Lord be near me,
today and always
in sickness and health
in worry and peace
in fear and calm.
“Most of us are doing fine, learning to live with uncertainty. I feel content. Attentive to others’ needs, but not feeling lonely or abandoned. I have enough to eat, my cats, the Prayer Book, Scripture, and a library full of books. My neighbors keep an eye on each other in a low-key and unstressed way. I even use social media some.”
“During the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire Church is in a liminal time. We know we will emerge different from how we entered this era, but we cannot see what that will look like yet. And we do not like it. Trust me that while it is stressful, there are also blessings to this time.”
“The Bible is full of references to sheltering. The first one that came to my mind was, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty” (Ps 91:1). Then there is “There will be a shelter to give shade from the heat by day, and refuge and protection from the storm and the rain” (Is 4:6). One that is frequently used in perilous times is “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in times of trouble” (Ps 46:1).”
“That’s the beauty of the Office–it says for us what we can’t always say for ourselves, and when we say it enough times, it becomes part of us, packing itself away in the same place we learned to say the Lord’s Prayer, or the Gettysburg Address when we were forced to memorize it in the 8th grade. Prayers like “Guide us waking and guard us sleeping” or The Song of Simeon or the Prayer of St. John Chrysotom become embedded in us in the same way a skin graft takes hold–not “us” originally, but in time, imperceptibly becoming us.”
“Perhaps we can see this time as a precious reminder of our shared vulnerability, and as a reminder to be more gentle with each other. Perhaps we can come to see why making sure everyone has access to sick leave and health care is actually in our collective best interest.”
“These images of Mary as priest, as a leader in the church, as an apostle, and as a bold and strong woman who was at the crucifixion despite the risk it posed to her own life, stand in stark contrast to the image that is often associated with Mary as meek and mild.”