Joining Virtual Hearts and Hands

Morning Prayers

“I arise today

In the name of Silence

Womb of the word.

In the name of Stillness

Home of belonging.

In the name of Solitude

Of the Soul and the Earth.”

John O’Donohue (“Morning Prayer”)

          I woke this morning thinking about how this pandemic impacts me, and I’m guessing my experience mirrors most of yours if you live alone. I find that I miss most of all the people I would normally socialize with, eat with, walk with, study with, and simple everyday encounters with other human beings. I live alone all the time, so being by myself is something I’m accustomed to, but this enforced aloneness is a whole other order of business. I also notice that I pray more, though mostly without words, since I don’t know which words to speak that fit this situation. Most of my prayers simply hold open the heart-space for whatever needs blessing, whatever needs pleading, whatever needs holding that can’t be physically held. I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s out there and I know it’s in here, too.

          I wonder about you. What are you doing to get through this time without losing your marbles? I’ve heard that many people are doing jigsaw puzzles and exercising to videos. I’ve heard that many mothers are scrambling to wear all their hats at once—working at home, teaching at-home, being wife and mother, chief cook and referee. Some good advice was given on the evening news last night to moms—let something go. The main thing is not to poison your relationships with the ones you love most simply because you’re frazzled. Don’t force yourself to be all things to all people; just do what you can and let the rest go. That goes for at-home dads, too.

Most of us wish we had something to give the doctors and nurses and all medical staff who are confronting the stark realities of this pandemic—the sickness and death, the lonely people whose loved ones can’t be with them, the deadening fatigue. I pray for them. The very best we can do is to hold our hearts open for all who are suffering and all who are attempting to alleviate that suffering. We can hold hands and join hearts in the virtual world and let the power of our combined energy travel to them. May it give them strength and courage today, and may our joining together in this way lift our spirits too. Amen.

                                        In the Spirit,

                                                     Jane