Fr. Don's Daily Reflection
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from you.”
A writer Alex Watt speaks for many during this Covid-19 period. He writes (April 20, 2020, NEW YORKER, p 25): “When this is all over, I will never turn down an invitation to a party.” And this: "Not that I get that many, but, hey, maybe that will change when everything is back to normal.” "Back to normal" captures the hope of all of us.
The reflection first scheduled for today began this way: “We brought nothing into this world, nor have we the power to take anything out. If we have food and clothing, we have all that we need” (I Timothy 6:7-8). Since that was quoted things have changed enormously!
Reports are that 26.45 million Americans have filed for unemployment benefits. That first line from I Timothy presumes that the readers have the basics. Many of our fellow citizens are at the point where they don’t have the basics.
The same writer quoted at the beginning also says: “When this is all over, I will never complain about having to go to work. Every day, I will get down on my knees and kiss that grey carpeting.” Or cement floor.
In his talk on Sunday April 26 Francis of Rome with all of us “locked down” people in mind urged this: “Don’t let yourself be paralyzed by disappointments, unfulfilled ideals, the bad things that have happened”, the inconvenience of Stay at Home, etc.
We are tempted to discouragement and sadness in the face of isolation from friends and lack of freedom. But sadness is not fruitful, it helps neither us nor others.
Francis says: The Risen Lord is alive; “He walks with us” as with the disciples on the way to Emmaus. Like them, impelled by our awareness that he is with us, we can say "Yes, I can do this, I can make people happier, help them become better. Yes, I can."
I can move from complaining to service. Human life is 'human' when we center it on our fellow human beings rather than on things.
The real treasures, riches, are within our personalities and human nature, in life close to God and to our neighbors. Sure, life with the same people, day in and day out, can be aggravating. A woman married for nearly 50 years says: “I never knew eating an apple could be so annoying.”
It’s to be hoped that our ‘enforced’ isolation with each other (our family or other unit) because of Covid-19 will renew our faith in human values, human relations, the friends we miss so much. We cannot put a price on these. FaceTime, Zoom, letters, e-mail, can lift their spirits, encourage their hope.
If Social Distancing and staying at home make it difficult to do much else for others now, then, perhaps, now is a good time to think of ways in which we will be able to do more for others after Covid-19 is over.
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
