Dwell

Dear Loved Ones,
 
How are you all doing in this time of uncertainty, restrictions, concern, slowing down or being extra stretched?  It has been an interesting couple of weeks so far.  I know many of you are now in shelter at home situations, and others are just being asked to socially distance yourself from others, and yet there are some who are working harder than ever to keep us fed, healthy, and clean, people whose jobs mean they have to be out in the world.  I thank you!
The whole Corona Virus 19 situation is new for many of us…. Even those who have lived through medical scares before (scarlet fever for example), have told me this is a whole new level of learning, and for many it the first such event to have happened in their lives.  Is it any wonder that people are looking tired and anxious?
When I have begun to feel worried about what is going on, I have found it really helpful to switch off electronic devices!  They tend to suck me in, even when I am not seeing the latest update about what is happening.  Then I have been getting creative with what to do next.  Read a book, go for a walk (yes, Gibbs and I have been out in nature more than ever!), sit with some paints and a canvas, pray, sing, cook some good food, call a friend (though this one can be hard for my introvert self!).  All these things help ground me, re-center me, stop the mindless what ifs and how wills.  And today I reached out to the local co-op to see how I can help them… they have lost half their workers; college students that have been sent home.  So I offered to be a delivery volunteer for folk who can’t or should not get out, with the germfree protocol being to leave things on doorsteps!
For me, I have found the most important thing is to not dwell on the possibilities, but rather to dwell in God.  No matter what happens I know God is present, however long this takes God will be walking side by side with us.  My style of dwelling may seem different from yours…. It includes the list above.  But I encourage each of you to find what helps you dwell in that presence of the Divine.  If you are not sure, feel how you are when you are doing different things.  How is it when you read, when you walk, when you do yoga, when you watch the news, when you do laundry, when you call a friend, when you look at your bank statement, when you teach your kids, when you play a game?  Choose to do more of the things that give you a sense of peace, of stillness, of slowing your brain and out of control thought spirals down.  These are some of the ways you can dwell with God.
And I don’t mean that God doesn’t dwell in the other places….. but maybe that you don’t dwell with God in them!  God is in it all, but where are we!
As we go through this time, let us remember we are going through it together.  Even when we are socially isolating, we are doing this for us all.  And when the isolation turns to creation, to connections in different ways, to sharing resources and love and hope with one another, I believe it will make us better able to live on this planet in unity in the long term.

 
With love,
Alison