Signs of the Pandemic Times

Yesterday seemed momentous in terms of the church angle of these pandemic times.  I realized how many clergy friends I have when they all took to the airwaves (Facebook/Twitter waves would probably be more accurate).  Why did they do this?

The president of the U.S. is giving out dumb advice again.  I could argue that not a day goes by when the president of the U.S. abstains from giving out dumb advice, but let me not digress.  The president decided that churches should re-open tomorrow.

Has he not been reading the information that I've been reading?  We can't sing together or celebrate the Eucharist the way we did.  We can't pass the peace the ways that most of us did.  Most of us can't have coffee hour and stay 6 feet apart--our fellowship halls might be big, but they're not that big.  

We're going to be worshiping from a distance, even if we get back together in the same building, so why not keep meeting virtually?  That's the decision my church has made.

And yes, I realize that President Trump is not concerned about the spiritual health of the nation, that he has other reasons for recommending a return to sanctuaries.  But I'm not digressing in that way either.

Yesterday, I spent more time feeling sadness about the summer and summer camp.  Novus Way, the umbrella organization that runs 4 Lutheran camps in the U.S. Southeast, sent out an e-mail announcing the cancellation of summer programs at all camps. I had expected that news. After all, the camper cabins at Lutheridge are much too small to allow distancing. And the communal eating. And the people coming from lots of locations. It gives me a headache just thinking about it.

I've found the new routine at my school, a college campus with a very limited re-opening, to be exhausting, and I'm not even doing much of it.  I take the temperatures of everyone who arrives to campus, but that's nothing compared to the cleaning crew who now comes through every 3 hours. How one can do that at camp where everyone's living together--how many more people would one have to hire?

So, I'm glad that they canceled, but I do wonder how long this situation can continue in terms of finances. I also know that once, the summer programs kept most church camps afloat financially, but that's probably not the case now. I think many church camps make a lot more money by having groups come in and rent the place during the non-summer season.

One of my Facebook friends wrote about the summer literary events that are being canceled, and she ended her post by saying "I'll be resilient but that doesn't mean I won't be sad." This sentence sums up my feelings about so many situations.

Let us be resilient while still allowing ourselves to feel sad and to grieve.