Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Christmas 2020

 

Christmas 2020

 

Next week we will make our way to the manger and marvel at the little one lying there. We do this every year, but this year, of course, is different. We will sit at individual creches in our own homes.

 

Our year has been one of darker days as a silent virus has ravaged the world. Over three hundred thousand funerals have been officiated in our country. Over three hundred thousand chairs will be empty next week. It’s a heavy time.

 

We use the phrase, “the holidays are upon us,” and most years it’s with anticipation. But this year it’s more like our breath will fade away from under the heaviness of it all.

 

Jesus was born in a heavy time of history. Oppressed people. Corrupt government. An insane king who wanted the baby boy slaughtered.

 

Jesus was born to an unwed teenager. He was born in the midst of animal noises and smells. He didn’t have a nurse to bathe him and check his APGAR scores. He was born with the weight of the world upon his tiny shoulders, though he knew nothing of it yet.

 

His parents had to get him out of town, so they became refugees in Egypt. Other baby boys were slaughtered by the corrupt king. There were funerals. Heaviness.

 

The manger is the place we gather every year at Christmas. We gather with joy and with hope for the future. We gather knowing God is with us. We go to church and sing our favorite carols. We end by singing, Silent Night, Holy

Night, as we raise our lighted candles to heaven. We sing with others, so that if our voice falters, the song is still sung.

 

We hope, we pray, we believe. Our faith brings us through the darkness. Our faith lifts the heaviness from upon us. The voices near us pick up the song when we can’t sing. And there will be some who just can’t sing this year.

 

Some of us will have to sing on zoom next week. Or, we will have to sing along with Frank Sinatra, Josh Groban, or the King’s College Choir. The holidays are upon us. And feeling alone may be the heaviest weight of all.

 

So, dear friends, let’s reframe this year. Take heart. God is here. We have the means to lift each other up, even if it’s only through FaceTime. Perhaps the holidays are not upon us, but around us. The voices of family and friends around us. Cards, gifts, kind and hopeful words around us. Hope for brighter days, future celebrations, and no more virtual hugs, but real arms around us.

 

The way a young, unwed mother wrapped her arms around her baby boy, perhaps remembering what the angel said, “Do not be afraid.”

She didn’t have to be afraid anymore. She wasn’t alone. She was able to breathe. And on that silent and holy night, the heaviness of the whole world lifted.

 

Please remember, the tiny baby we worship next week, became the man who healed broken minds, broken spirits, and broken hearts. He takes the pieces of our lives and puts us back together again. He walks us out of the dark places. We breathe again.

 

May God bless you and relieve any heaviness you bear with the Light of the World who shines forth from a straw-filled manger.

 

Let’s meet there next year.

 

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Bruises

 

Bruises (updated November 3, 2020)

Many years ago, when I was blissfully young and ran several miles each day, I suffered from plantar fasciitis. The pain in my feet was excruciating. But I kept running. I finally went to my doctor and he said, “If you continue to run every day, the trauma to your feet is like the action of punching a bruise. You must stop the daily trauma. You must let your feet heal. Stop running.”
Today is election day 2020.
Of course, voting has been going on for days and weeks in many states. Counting votes after the election might take some time, as well.
How have the last four years been for you?
Are you healthier?
Are you safer?
Are you more fulfilled?
Are you less stressed?
Are you happier?
Are you more joyful?
Where do you find goodness, gentleness, and kindness?
Where do you see generosity, empathy, and hope?
Personally, I feel like the last four years have been one punch after another on bruised souls. On a bruised and battered country. I’m tired of running from the chaos.
A nasty President has treated the people of this country, those he took an oath to serve and protect, with disdain, deceit, and death.
He treats children and adults from other countries with cruelty and torture. Families ripped apart on our land, children who may never see their parents again. Parents who have no idea what happened to their little ones.
Infants, children, and adults have died from his direct schemes, malignant passivity, and savage commands.
Babies in cages.
Kurds slaughtered.
Innumerable gun deaths on our streets, in our schools, at social gatherings, in houses of worship.
Over 230,000 people have died of Covid-19 due to his lack of planning, refusal to speak the truth, and incompetence of leadership as the pandemic swept our nation earlier this year, and in now is surging again.
He’s not really a pro-life kind of guy.
He’s brutal.
So many punches. So much trauma. Bruised. Battered.
But not broken.
His crimes will unfold and all will eventually be revealed. His cohorts will have no place to hide. There may even be a little bit of justice.
Justice for all.
Liberty for all.
We’ll see.
The list of offenses is long. Four years of daily assault. Four years of abusing human rights. Four years of corruption. Impeachment.
Four years of simmering racism and White Supremacy set on fire. Four years of unbridled violence and fear.
Four years of punching the bruise.
What will happen today, election day? Who will be inaugurated January 20, 2021?
We’ll see.
For now…
I wish you time to catch your breath. May we begin to heal the bruise of exhaustion, with the balm of remembrance.
Remembrance of what we have been and what we can be.
I hope your health is manageable and that you are listening to doctors and scientists.
Wear your mask.
May we begin to heal the bruises of dangerous lies and deceit, with the balm of truth.
I pray that if you need food, shelter, a job, healthcare, a break, a tiny spark of hope…that you will find exactly what you need with the support of people who are reliable and available to you.
We are a community called to care for one another. May we begin to heal the bruises of loss, fear, and despair, with the balm of loving our neighbor, loving the stranger, loving "the other," and building and sustaining, authentic relationships.
If you are lonely and weary of the pandemic, please be courageous a little longer. May we begin to heal the bruises of isolation with the balm of belief in restoration.
If you are missing your loved ones, consider sending emails today listing the things you love most about each and every one. Then you will begin to heal the bruise of separation with the balm of love.
How have the last four years been for you?
Are you healthier?
Are you safer?
Are you more fulfilled?
Are you less stressed?
Are you happier?
Are you more joyful?
Where do you find goodness, gentleness, and kindness?
Where do you see generosity, empathy, and hope?
Today is election day 2020.
Breathe. Pray. Vote.
Stop running. Instead, let’s walk with hopeful purpose into a brighter future.

It’s time to heal the bruise.

 


Friday, September 11, 2020

September 2020: Thoughts on Covid 19

September 2020: Thoughts on Covid-19 

 

Our wall of masks has grown, as Doug brings one home from the hospital after work and hangs it up with the others. A daily reminder of the days of mask-wearing.

The weekly pan of lemon bars makes its’ scheduled appearance. I wonder if we will hate lemon bars once a safe and tested vaccine is available to us? Once a safe country is available to us?

We eat the lemon bars when we watch Father Brown and Schitts Creek at night.

A dozen (at least) yellow finches have been in our backyard the last few mornings to join the other bird choruses. Their delicate song sounds like fairy chimes.

We made one of those dreaded trips to the ER when Doug tore his quadriceps. Surgery followed three days later. His recovery will be long. He is a pleasant patient and I love caring for him. He has a medieval torture device (a brace) on his left leg. It is not pleasant.

I’m preaching for our Tennessee church, Covenant Presbyterian Church in Johnson City. Five weeks of sermons recorded in five different locations. Preaching gives me spiritual exercise.

While Doug was in surgery, I sermonized into my cell phone camera while ensconced in the hospital chapel.

People enter the chapel with pleas to God for the lives of their loved ones. Hospital chapels have such a specific use; prayers for life to conquer death. Covid-19 has made the pleadings in hospital chapels almost impossible. Visitors and family members are often restricted from the hospital, let alone God’s small house.

E-mails, phone calls, and even a few in-person (masked and socially distanced) visits have filled the corners of my days.

The food bank is still the most worthwhile ministry I’ve ever been part of.

Our daughter will be married this month. We will make our way to Chicago and joyfully “marriage” (her word) Lauren to Sylvester Fejokwu. It’s not the wedding they had planned, but it’s still all theirs. The celebration of their nuptials will not be lessened just because the guests are fewer.

So many things have changed for those who marry and those who bury in 2020.  

Time has dragged during these months of Covid-19, at least for us. The news that our President was aware in January of how deadly the virus was, and yet took no action, is beyond the pale. The spread of Covid could have been slowed, and lives saved. That’s the truth.

Hospital and mortuary workers have watched almost 200,000 dead bodies flood their spaces. They are exhausted and traumatized. Some have succumbed to the disease and some have lost their own lives.

It all could have been lessened and this horrific pain minimized.

The President, who strives to instill panic in the American people every single day with false fears and shocking rhetoric, is pretending he didn’t want to panic the American people with the news of a deadly pandemic. His administration supported his self-serving cruelty. He, and they, can’t lie and excuse this away.

Death has conquered too many lives. Prayers were prayed by the bereaved, while their loved ones died alone in a hospital room.

There is no excuse. Everyone making an excuse for the most dangerous President in our history needs to finally stop. Just stop. There are no more excuses to spout. The mouths of his willfully ignorant followers must cease their protestations of what is true: The President chose to let the people of this country spread a deadly disease just by breathing. He chose to let us die.

His followers have been fooled by the greatest and most dangerous fool of all.

Besides the horror of death, jobs have been lost, businesses have been shuttered, schools are now social experiments, families don’t have enough food….

Systemic racism is no longer led by cowards hiding under white sheets. The toxicity of White Supremacy is on full display and led by the man living in the People’s House.

It’s September 2020. In less than two months we will elect a President and specific congress women and men. My prayer is that sanity will be restored by people of integrity and those who desire to be true servants of this country.

Doug and I will watch the happenings of election night, hopefully sans brace, while eating lemon bars.

As a good friend of mine said, "When life gives you lemons, make lemon bars..."

I hope it’s the last pan of lemon bars I bake for a long, long time.

  

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Isolation


Isolation

We were told to isolate.

A worldwide pandemic hit our shores and we were told to stay indoors. No work, no play.

Just stay.

Some people had to go to work, their work was critical. Doctors, nurses, police, fire fighters, grocery store stockers and cashiers, food banks. They had to keep the rest of us alive.

But some of us didn’t survive the pandemic. The numbers are climbing to over 113,000 souls who didn’t make it. Covid-19 suffocated them. There will be more victims.

Maybe they were, or are, unable to isolate.

Isolation is nice for introverts. A great excuse to stay away from other humans. But even the most introverted introverts begin to find themselves going a little insane. Isolation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Zoom meetings might be overrated.

As humans, we are created to be in community. We are created to be part of families and churches and classmates and friends and workmates.

Some of us just don’t like to be told what to do. “I don’t want to isolate.” “I don’t want to wear a mask.” “You are taking away my freedoms.”

“Give me freedom or give me death!” Okay. Maybe think that through.

Some families have done well. A few squabbles, perhaps. Occasional short tempers. Tears once in a while. But it’s not hard to “love the one you’re with.” Moms and dads are learning fifth grade science. Kids are loved and families are growing in positive ways.

Some families have had a rougher time. The news reminds us of the dangers of isolation. Dangers for children and spouses. Children being brought to hospitals badly beaten.

Badly beaten.

No schools to give safety and necessary food. No teachers or neighbors to see what happens in isolation. No safety nets can catch those who are caught in the grip of an abuser.

Verbal abuse. Emotional abuse. Physical abuse. Sexual abuse. But the people who care can’t hear the cries.

Isolation.

Our country was told to Isolate.

But that was already happening. Not because of the pandemic.

The leader of our country shunned and rejected our allies and friends around the world.

The leader of our country could have told us to isolate due to the pandemic much earlier, when he knew it was here on our shores. He could have saved thousands of lives.

The leader of our country is worried more about re-election than a deadly disease unleashed on the people of America.

The leader of our country refused to order PPE for our hospitals.

The leader of our country told us to take the wrong drugs and inject disinfectant into our bodies.

The leader of our country turned our military on peaceful protesters.

The leader of our country defamed the Bible.

The leader of our country has suffocated us with hatred, fear-mongering, and dangerous lies.

And don't forget, the leader of our country locks brown babies in cages and destroys their families.

The leader of our country is an abuser. 

He is our abuser.

In the midst of a deadly pandemic, an economic catastrophe, lies and misinformation, something else happened…

A black man died. He did not die from the pandemic. He did not die because stock market dropped.

A black man named George Floyd, was killed by an abuser. A dirty white cop who thought he could get away with murder. Not this time.

George Floyd was suffocated out of life. He was calling for his mother.

Our eyes are open. We can hear the cries. And we have cell phones.

Not all cops are bad. Many are heroes. But hero cops aren't enough. We need healthcare for all. We need mental healthcare for all. We need food for all. Those who say no to these things wear the name "Abuser."

And abusers have to go.

Go directly to jail.

There are no more “Get out of jail free” cards.

“We are sick of this shit!” The whole world says. “People are leaving isolation, marching in the streets, marching until they can’t march anymore. Then they rest and march again.”

Our friends and allies around the world have left their isolation after losing so many of their own people (they are still our friends and allies). It’s risky for everyone, marching during a pandemic. But perhaps it’s riskier to stay silent.

Isolation saves lives during pandemics. It’s not meant to be permanent. We are meant to be in community. Community in healthy families, churches, schools, friendships and workplaces.

An isolated human will eventually go mad. An isolated country will live in fear and danger.

We are so sick of this shit.

Donald Trump, the abuser of our nation, must be put in isolation. Not in the beautiful Peoples House, not in one of his garish bedbug properties, not on an island far away.

Isolation in a prison cell is the only place to stop the abuser. The cop, the parent, the spouse, the President.

We have the power. We won’t be his victims. We will rise in solidarity, change the occupants in our government, see peace and equity restored, celebrate the diversity of our sisters and brothers, and help all those in need, so they can be their potential-filled-very-best-selves.

When this many-layered nightmare is over, I for one will get down on my knees, and with thanksgiving I will remember all the lessons I’ve learned, the dangerous paths to avoid, the beautiful new faces I’ve met, the love that has been virtually shared, the heart-stopping moments, the cheers of victory!

And because I’m a woman of faith…I will remember the God who has cried with us in our Babylon. I will also remember the faithfulness of God, who not only guides us, but brings us safely out of our isolation.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Tastes, Sounds, and Sights During Covid-19



Tastes, Sounds, and Sights During Covid-19

It's been about eight weeks since we've stumbled into a new normal, and increased the use of certain vocabulary: 
Coronavirus, face masks, protective gloves, shelter-in-place, testing, tracing, PPE, ventilators, curbside pick-up, hand sanitizer, "Closed," toilet paper, numbers of cases per day, numbers of deaths per day.

You can add more words.

My husband, Doug, and I have spent the last eight weeks adapting to quick change and constantly new information. Doug works at Sparrow Hospital in Lansing, MI. He is the President of Sparrow Medical Group. Not only is he a physician, he leads physicians who work for Sparrow. His job is stressful, even when there isn't a pandemic sweeping our country. He is in his office every day and has meetings face-to-face, via zoom, and on the phone. Every weekend for the last eight weeks he has had up to six phone meetings. He has rarely had four hours straight without a Covid-19 interruption. He is good at what he does, cares for his doctors, and grieves over what this virus is doing to so many patients.  

The First Presbyterian Church of Lasing is home to an amazing food pantry. (I've written about this before.) For the last eight weeks I have found myself volunteering a lot more than usual. On Monday mornings I head to the Meijer grocery store to purchase what Doug and I need, and also things the food pantry needs.  

Grocery shopping is a more perilous activity these days. It took awhile, but Meijer finally got their employees to wear face masks and put up plastic barriers between cashiers and customers. But I still walk in with trepidation. With my mask and gloves in place, I race through the aisles grabbing items. 

Tastes
What do I panic buy at the store? Bananas. 

Usually three bunches. 

We like bananas. But not three bunches worth. 
There are things I stress-bake every week. The first is something I hadn't made in two decades: Lemon Bars. 
I had lemons on the counter (to use with fish) when Covid showed up. 
In one mad moment I thought, "I should make lemon bars!"
So, I did. And I do. Every single week.

Homemade bread.
Yeast hates me. But my friend, Lori, shared a recipe for bread that tastes like it was born in Italy. 
Yeast likes me now. I make a loaf every single week.

Banana Bread.
(See panic buying above.)

What are the tastes you are experiencing?





SOUNDS 

Every year during Eastertide (also during Advent) I listen to Handel's Messiah. This year is no different, except that it sometimes makes me cry in my car when I hear,
"He shall feed his flock like a shepherd..."
I listen to this when I drive to and from the food pantry.


I also listen to the contemporary Christian singer, Lauren Daigle. Her song, "Rescue" is comforting.

The soundtrack from the musical, "Come From Away" has personal meaning and also reminds us all of a time when we endured another tragedy as a country, but found kindness and grace from strangers in another place.

Phone calls with family and friends far away.

I love hearing the children in our neighborhood playing outside. 

I love hearing our cats purr.

What are the sounds in your life?






SIGHTS

Eight weeks ago, when we knew things were far worse than expected, we hauled out our Christmas lights and re-decorated the three fir trees in our front yard. We decided we would leave them up until there was some semblance of normalcy. (We actually thought that might happen...) We will keep them lit and hope it cheers the folks in our neighborhood as they drive by.

Books I've read or am reading during Covid-19

My new author crush is Lori Nelson Spielman. She is the international best selling author of 

"The Life List" and "Sweet Forgiveness"
She is amazing. 

For spiritual growth I am reading two books by Annemarie Kidder.
She is the Pastor of Pennfield Presbyterian Church, and was an assistant professor at The Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit, MI 
She is the author of several books. I'm reading:

"Making Confession, Hearing Confession" and "The Power of Solitude"

Before I go to bed at night I read something light. Thanks to my friend, Linda, I'm crazy about:

"The Mrs. Pollifax Series," by Dorothy Gilman 

(Another sight is the screen of my computer as the Pastor Maggie book #5 comes to life.)

I know it is a challenge for young families to be in shelter-at-home mode. We have a family near us with three beautiful children. One day I heard noise in our backyard and saw this beautiful family laying a handmade bridge over a particularly muddy spot that I tromped through every morning to fill bird feeders. They had built the bridge and the children each painted a picture and signed their names on top. Such an incredibly thoughtful gift! I cross my bridge every day and thank God for parents and children who show such kindness! 

Sights also include the shelves in the food pantry. Each item we will take off and put into a box or bag. We always start with beans. Toilet paper and soap are needed by everyone. Snacks. Diapers. 
The shelves must stay full. (Please donate to your local food pantry.) Our team: Ron, Dave, Erin, Jim, Deb, Charlie, Brian, Barb A., Marna, John.

And lastly, masks. Thank you, Jo Powers, for making masks for us. I wear one almost every day when I might encounter other humans. My favorite mask has kitties on it (Marmalade likes it too!)


But one of the most sacred things in our house right now is the cork board where we have a calendar of our grandchildren, along with notes and pictures from neighbors.
Very quietly Doug has made it the one sight that raises a lump in my throat every time I come through the back door.

Doug gets his masks at work. Each morning he takes a new mask. He wears it all day. And when he comes home, he hangs it on a push pin in the cork board. Each pin holds multiple masks. 

It's the sight of Covid-19 I'll never forget.










GOD BLESS YOU DURING THIS COVID-19 TIME. MAY TASTES, SOUNDS, AND SIGHTS FILL YOU WITH HOPE AND JOY.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

We fed people today... 4/16/20


We fed people today.

Yesterday we wanted to feed people and couldn’t.

Today we wanted to feed people and did.

Three of the large houses where folks are doing the good, hard work of beating addiction, came and got food today. Our shelves were depleted.

We restocked the shelves from our storage room.

Eleven families made appointments to come and get food today. We packed boxes. We found out if they needed diapers, feminine hygiene products, and what kind of meat they preferred.  Our refrigerator and freezers were emptied.

We refilled our cold storage with produce and meat.

A woman in the parking lot asked for someone to pray with her. I went outside. I was wearing my mask and my gloves. We didn’t stand close together.

“What would you like me to pray for?”

“My family. Protection from this virus. A way to get by without being able to work.” She wanted to hold my hands, but I told her we couldn’t do that quite yet.

So, we stood at a distance and I prayed louder than normal, while her two children looked on from the back seat and my amazing workmates brought out her food. (Thank you, Dave and Brian!)  

A parking lot prayer.

Because sometimes we need spiritual food, soul-soothing food.

Five different people walked to our doors without appointments.

“How many in your family, sir?”

“Five. Two adults, three kids.”

“We’ll be right out with your food. What kind of meat do your like? Do you need….?

Our shelves were depleted. Our refrigerator and freezers were emptied.

So, we restocked.

I came home with a glorious backache.

Because today we fed people.

Their smiles and words of blessing fed us right back.

Because sometimes we all need spiritual food, soul-soothing food.

May God continue to soothe all troubled souls, and surprise us with joy as we care for one another.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

We wanted to feed people today... 4/15/20


We wanted to feed people today.

Families called and made appointments to pick up food.

Children are part of those families.

Houses with people working hard to overcome addiction called in their food orders.

We packed boxes. We filled bags.

Because we wanted to feed people today.

Downtown Lansing, Michigan. Our food pantry is open. We are ready.

With food packed, we waited for our clients.

But instead of clients, we saw and heard something else.

Cars, trucks, signs, horns, hate, scorn…

We wanted to feed people today.

But a nonstop parade of people, screaming and yelling from open car windows, blocked our streets and clogged our neighborhoods.

Some got out of their cars and talked and laughed about their big protest. Social distanced from one another? No. Wearing masks? No.

We wanted to feed people today.

They spilled onto Michigan Avenue and created a traffic jam outside of Sparrow Hospital. Doctors and nurses are caring for Covid-19 patients in that hospital.

People are struggling to survive a deadly disease. And beneath their windows, semi-truck horns blared. Car horns were non-stop. People screamed and yelled.

While people tried to breathe.

We wanted to feed people today.

All appointments for food pick-up were cancelled, because our clients couldn’t get to our parking lot.

We locked our doors and waited while helicopters flew overhead. We couldn’t get out of our parking lot.

We saw and heard the cars, trucks, signs, horns, hate, scorn…

Doctors and nurses have a hard job. Their job was made harder today.

Tonight, families will not have the food they thought they would have.

People struggling with life’s difficulties will not have dinner. Or breakfast.

Children.

Because the followers of the most ignorant and dangerous President in our history acted ignorantly and dangerously today.

They were cruel, ugly, mocking, and scornful today.

A day when we just wanted to feed people.