hi Everyone!
Here is my Tenth Reflection for our church E-news. I think all of us are having a tough time right now with the pandemic and hope this helps a little bit.
I have included a picture of Sita because every day she goes out and rolls in the grass and is a happy dog! I think she can teach all of us how to cope with LIfe.
Stay safe and well!
Jane and Sita
Jane’s Tenth Reflection
The Jigsaw of a Pandemic
I was a counselor for many years, and cried along with clients who had suddenly had their lives turned upside down. Some became blind, others lost their hearing, and still others were forced to leave their job because of a severe injury. I also worked with children who had been severely abused and were living with foster parents. They had suffered unspeakable trauma and many of them had Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
What do you say to these people? Years ago, I read a wonderful book, and have forgotten the title. Honestly, it is probably sequestered somewhere in my basement, which I should be cleaning out during the pandemic but I am doing more fun things. Anyway – the book described one way to deal with grief.
The book points out how a tragedy shreds our lives into pieces. Through a healing process, we gradually try to pick up these pieces. But what no one tells us is by putting them together, we most likely will come up with a very different picture.
Think about the loss of a loved one, a spouse for example. This is one of the most traumatic events in our lives. Once the widow or widower starts to pick up the pieces again, they may include more time with children, grandchildren, neighbors, and friends. If someone came to my office after a disabling injury working on a factory assembly line, he or she might have been retrained to work on computers instead.
With the pandemic, there have been tremendous changes, and the difference is this has affected every single one of us around the globe. Many articles I read remind us that even after a vaccine is developed, our lives will be hugely different. Sanitation will be more prevalent, social distancing may be here to stay, while the American custom of meeting with a handshake may never return.
Meanwhile, it is believed more people will be working from home, large offices may become a relic of the past, and online learning may become the rule rather than the exception for students of all ages. Families will be spending more time at home and our homes will be designed very differently so we can both work and play comfortably.
Being 69 years old, I find this somewhat scary. Then I think back to other changes in my life, such as the loss of health causing me to change careers, loss of parents changing my routine to spend more time with friends, and the changes I made career-wise. We all have gone through similar changes in our lives.
Presently, the entire world has been shattered, and as a people, we are putting the pieces together. We hear continually about normalcy never returning, and the “new normal.” We may never return to the old ways again. We can approach this new life with two different attitudes. We can be afraid and mourn the old picture. Or we can be excited about how to see the new pieces come together, and what picture will be shown.
Jesus certainly knew this. His life and crucifixion changed the lives of many people forever, as a new Christian religion was formed. Imagine how scared his disciples and followers were. But the Bible tells us not to be afraid. “Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.” Corinthians 4:16. (ESV)
So, let’s get excited and see what the final picture will be!