Hour of Darkness: Covid-19

The novel coronavirus has plunged our globalized world into darkness. It began in a major transportation hub in China and from there, major city networks were affected. The United States is now number one in cases and overnight, the death count doubled in the thousands. Everyone is on edge and worried and stressed and scared and and and and. It is day fourteen (I think) of social distancing and we are nowhere near being done. Because of the high contagion rate, Guilford County implemented a Stay-at-Home order on Friday and North Carolina will enter a shutdown of everything nonessential to surviving as a whole starting tomorrow. I have temporarily lost my job but I am forever grateful that we live in a technologically advanced society that allows me to stay home and stay safe while being able to call and text and video message with my friends and family. 

This morning, I showered, got dressed, lit my candles and streamed my church’s contemporary service. Afterwards, I logged into my virtual Sunday School class and was able to see and interact with some of my favorite people. I am about to log into a Zoom meeting for church council and tonight, I will log into a virtual youth group. This week, I will be connecting with Tuesdays on Tap and then with the high school small group. 

Meeting with my Sunday School class this morning made me really think about the moment that we’re in and the relationships that we must cherish. My Sunday School class is a special group. All the other classes are based on age groups and life stages but ours is a multigenerational book study. We’re reading The Story which is a more narrative reading of the Bible. It takes multiple viewpoints that are in the Bible and puts them into one story. I was given this book by my aunt a couple Christmases ago so I was thrilled to learn about this class opportunity this year. I love love love that our class is multigenerational. Within each age level, we have the low churched and the high churched  and it allows different perspectives to shine through. Beyond the scholarship, there is a different level of fellowship that you get when you make friends and relationships with people of a different time and perspective.

This week, we read the chapter describing Holy Week. The tone was very dark while it described the pain and suffering in the torture and death of the Savior starting with the betrayal at the Last Supper. Throughout this reading, I kept going back to the dual nature of Jesus and the dual nature that I believe that Creation embodies as well. The dual nature of Jesus is that He was completely divine while being completely human. In this reading of the Last Supper and the events leading up to Jesus’ death, we see his humanity in the pain and suffering that was so real but also so symbolic of the pain and suffering we experience but is now exacerbated by the global pandemic. Next week, we will read the chapter on the Resurrection. We will enter Holy Week and come out on the other side triumphant. Here, we will see Jesus’ divinity in the triumph over death. Divinity embodied humanity in Jesus and as a creation that reflects the divine image, we have divinity in us. During this hour of darkness we must reflect God for others to create Heaven on Earth. 

First off: STAY HOME. If you are not deemed an essential job and you’re not going to the grocery store for food, STAY HOME. Stay home. That’s it. Stay home. This disease is so contagious and dangerous because it incubates for such a long time before you even realize that you have it. And by then, you’ve infected others who will infect others who infect others unless we all STAY HOME. And wash yo hands. Don’t touch your face.

Take care of yourself during this time. We are all scared and stressed and we cannot take care of others if we don’t take care of ourselves. Follow a schedule, even if it says get out of bed by 11am. Primp yourself, even if it’s just to brush your hair. Set goals, even if it’s to just put on a bra.

Exercise. We need the endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. And happy people just don’t kill their husbands. Stretch every morning. Walk laps around the neighborhood. Run up and down your stairs. Lift weights with canned goods if you have to. While taking care of your physical self, take care of your spiritual self. Pray. Engage in spiritual practices that center you and draw you closer to the Divine. I journal, practice yoga, play piano, and handletter. I use my talents to center myself and I enjoy making things for others.

Now that we’ve taken care of ourselves, take care of others. If you can, use your financial blessings to bless others. As a small business employee, I can personally attest to the benefits of shopping locally. It keeps money here at home and stimulates the economy and that’s what we will need to drag ourselves out of this financial mess. 

In the meantime, people are going to starve if we don’t take care of our most vulnerable. Christ United Methodist Church took on this issue for our Lenten Offering and it is imperative that we support this. Food instability was a concern before but now, people are out of work and children are out of school. People are not making enough money to buy food for the home and kids who used to rely on school breakfast and lunches will go hungry. A large percentage of our college and university workers and students relied on dining halls and food pantries for food. Now, dining halls are closed and the food pantry is bare. Our transient and unhoused populations are relying on us too, to care for their needs and donate to food pantries like Greensboro Urban Ministry, Out of the Garden, and The Spartan Open Pantry. Additionally, you can support The Table at our Glenwood Campus which offers a free meal (to-go for now) on Monday evenings to over 100 people in the Glenwood neighborhood. Again, it is up to us to support this ministry. To give to our Lenten offering, give online at christgreensboro.org/lentenoffering; text “Lent 100” (change number to desired gift amount) to 984-237-2862; or mail a check earmarked “Lenten Offering” to the Church Office at 410 N. Holden Road, Greensboro, 27410.

And finally, social distancing does not mean distancing socially. Reach out to your friends and family. Call an older neighbor, friend, at-home member of your congregation. Maintain your small group schedule and schedule other virtual meetups. We’re in this together. We are not alone.