The Time is Now: Sing

     

     

My come to Jesus moment happened last Monday night around 10 pm. I was waiting for the test results of the covid-19 virus. My pneumonia and persistent fever had made me a candidate. I was given massive amounts of antibiotics through my thin veins to deal with the infection on my lungs and now they wanted to make sure I didn’t have the dreaded virus that was rocking the planet. I tried to keep myself awake by watching various silly TV programs. I was drinking enough water to sink a small tankard. They told me they would tell me the results Monday night. While waiting the kind nurse, Lyn, brought me Earl Grey Tea from her private stash. We talked briefly while she took my vitals. She asked me to pray for the baby in the NICU. I was both patient and priest. She was both nurse and caring person.  Around 10 the PA came in. I could hear the rustle of her plastic gown. I tested positive. She said, “The doctor will come in the morning and talk to you about next steps.” Then she left.

  In the half -lit room of the hospital Jesus and I had a talk. I wasn’t hysterical. No crying out how this could be. Though there was and persists a mind track that tries to chart where I might have picked this up. No, this was a very quiet prayerful moment. “What do you want me to do now?  Silence almost deafening then a sense of overwhelming calm enfolded me. “Trust me. I will walk with you through this. You will be ok. I need you.”  The last part was a bit hard to understand because how can I be of use if I am out of commission I wondered?

    The next day I was released home to a strict quarantine in my apartment with daily check ins from the Health Department. A few says ago an agnostic friend suggested that I was an early adopter. It's a term used for an individual or business who uses a product or technology before all the kinks have been worked out. Companies rely on early adopters to provide feedback about the product’s deficiencies. Early adopters face risks. I have been trying on this concept of being an early adopter and seeing how it squares with “I need you.” And well yes, there is a synergy, a holy resonance. I was worried how I could lead the church if I was home bound and now, I see that my vulnerability, my having the virus and living through it is what makes me the perfect leader for you at this time. I have also identified as a wounded healer but now I get to be your authentic guide during this pilgrimage of sickness we are all on through these scary times.

    So, this is what I can tell you so far. And those of you who have been through serious illnesses know this already. We are all in this together. We are all connected, an injury to one is an injury to all. We are all vulnerable no matter our age or current state of health. Some are just more vulnerable to this particular virus.

   Jesus heals a man who is blind from birth with mud and spit. He is then sent to the Pools of Siloam which means Sent to wash off his past to begin his new life. Jesus anoints his eyes as a symbolic act of completing the creation God started. Creation is still at work and Jesus is activating or restoring spiritual sight. This is why one of his earliest titles is “Eye Salve.”

   Dear Ones, all of us, each of us, is invited to join Jesus in acts of mercy and kindness, to be healers along love’s way. We do it by bringing each other a cup of tea, by making a meal, sharing a kind email, a phone call.  But first we must wake up and face this new reality. We must see what is our new normal. Now is not only a time for social distancing to flatten the curve but a time for social solidarity. This ending of life as we have known it is also the beginning of a new life for our church family as we seek creative ways to stay in loving supportive relationship with each other.

   I would like to end with the Prayer/Poem by Father Richard Hendrick from Ireland called “Lockdown.”

Yes, there is fear.

Yes, there is isolation.

Yes, there is panic buying.

Yes, there is sickness.

Yes, there is even death.

But,

They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise

You can hear the birds again.

They say that after just a few weeks of quiet

The sky is no longer thick with fumes

But blue and grey and clear.

They say that in the streets of Assisi

People are singing to each other

across the empty squares,

keeping their windows open

so that those who are alone

may hear the sounds of the family around them.

They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland

Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.

Today a young woman I know

is busy spreading fliers with her number

through the neighborhood

So that the elders may have someone to call on.

Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples

are preparing to welcome

and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary

All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting

All over the world people are looking at their neighbors in a new way

All over the world, people are waking up to a new reality

To how big we really are.

To how little control we really have.

To what really matters.

To Love.

So, we pray, and we remember that

Yes, there is fear.

But there does not have to be hate.

Yes, there is isolation.

But there does not have to be loneliness.

Yes, there is panic buying.

But there does not have to be meanness.

Yes, there is sickness.

But there does not have to be the disease of the soul

Yes, there is even death.

But there can always be a rebirth of love.

Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.

Today, breathe.

Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic

The birds are singing again

The sky is clearing,

Spring is coming,

And we are always encompassed by Love.

Open the windows of your soul

And though you may not be able

to touch across the empty square,

Sing.