Reflection by Sue Braun, Spiritual Director
It’s about a month since the stay-at-home orders commenced and I’ve been in a whirlwind of feelings and thoughts. I’ve been worried and afraid, sad and tearful, lonely and anxious, grateful and peaceful, mad and frustrated. I’ve worried about my retirement account. I’ve cried over funerals that no one can attend. I’ve stress-baked and then stress-eaten all of the stress-baking. Right now, with information changing so rapidly and uncertainty about what will happen in the near (and far) future, I’ve caught myself thinking, “when things get back to normal, then…”
If you’ve taken Journey—The Story of Our Lives with Ellen Kogstad, you’ve heard her talk about Transitions and specifically how to live in the now, where we are right now in seminary. She talked about these verses from Jeremiah 29:4-7.
This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters;
find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.”
The Israelites were told to settle down and make lives for themselves and not live in the limbo of “when things get back to normal, then…”. I’ve thought about these verses as I’ve tried to figure out how to live my life as things are right now, in the middle of a pandemic. Here’s what I’ve
come up with:
- Find routine: Like make your bed, have regular meals, take a walk every day.
- Remember your purpose. Remember what God has given you to do. For me that’s to be a listener
- Talk to friends regularly
- Breathe
- Be grateful
- Give yourself radical self love when it’s been days and you haven’t done one thing on this list
I find that these things help with fear about the future and connect me to myself and to God. My question may not be your question and my list may not be your list, but find some things that help you feel present to your life. Thanks be to God