"Pandemic Observations" by Carroll Makemson
When this blog publishes, I will have been “in” for nine months and twenty-six days. The definition of “in” can vary, but for the vast majority of the days since March 18, 2020, I have been “in.” No shopping, no restaurants or patios, no concerts or church, no games. I am not a stay at home person, but a true extrovert who likes to go places and stay busy so every day I must remind myself that I have absolutely nothing to whine about, but it doesn’t always work!
Throughout these months at home, I made a few Pandemic Observations on Facebook. Although these quips might not work well in this blog, I recently cross checked my observations with both a community group and a Bible Study class. Without minimizing the hardships, health crises, and sacrifices of this time, the consensus was that people are trying to find good in these times.
Pandemic Observation #1: People tried new foods, found new recipes, baked more, and discovered that “Jeans Friday” which used to be a celebration of the upcoming weekend was now an accountability check on our waistlines.
Pandemic Observation #2: The importance of connecting with other people led to creative ways of seeing each other safely on decks, driveways, picnic tables in parks, and walking trails. Finding ways to help each other made porch drop offs and pick ups a way of life. The mailbox was a lifeline for remembering others and being remembered.
Pandemic Observation #3: Technology is powerful! Zoom for worship, community groups, team meetings, book studies and clubs, Advent study, birthday parties, anniversary celebrations, Christmas gift opening, high school reunions, art classes, and most importantly seeing far-flung family
Pandemic Observation #4: People reported spending more time enjoying and observing our natural world. Watching the birds “fight”at our feeder is good entertainment. In fact, I have spent enough time at the window to recognize individual birds of the same species. Watching the seasons change while walking the trails around Liberty led to wondering as I wandered. More pictures of sunsets, sunrises, wild animals, and garden flowers than usual have been shared.
Pandemic Observation #5: More creative living has filled our time as we found our own entertainment: movies, sewing and crafts, games, music, art, reading, organizing, cleaning, gardening, and writing.
Other words people used to describe life during these times were intentional, deliberate, grateful, relaxed, resourceful.
A church blog might not be complete without a Biblical reference. Putting a spin on the Parable of the Sower found in three gospels, many of us can choose our Pandemic Path. Will it be a path with no gain, a rocky path, a thorny path, or a fruitful path for God’s work in us and through us?
This poem circulating since June (therefore, in the present tense) expresses what 2020 has done and might continue to do for us with God as our inspiration and guide.
What if 2020 isn’t cancelled?
What if 2020 is the year we’ve been waiting for:
A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw—that it finally forces us to grow.
A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us from our ignorant slumber.
A year we finally accept the need for change.
Declare change. Work for change. Become the change.
A year we finally band together, instead of pushing each other further apart.
2020 isn’t cancelled,
but rather the most important year of them all.*
Recently, this young poet reflected on her poem saying, “Now we can come together and create change so in five years we look back and say that year wasn’t cancelled. It was actually revolutionary.”*
Let it be so!
*Leslie Dwight, Today.com, n.d.