Life after the Pandemic

Saturday marked two weeks after getting my second Covid shot. How glorious it has been since to give long, lingering hugs, to unmask outdoors AND indoors with other vaccinated adults, to be with people in the flesh, without a mask or screen between us. I am ever grateful for the masks and social distance that kept us safe, even when it felt so counter-human, for Zoom, Facetime, and other technologies that allowed us to connect in meaningful, surprisingly intimate ways, when we couldn't be together in person, and for the miraculous development and distribution of such a highly effective vaccine in record-breaking time, to protect us from more needless death and suffering.

I know the pandemic is not over, that there are still risks and decisions that must be weighed, that we will not likely reach herd immunity in this country, such that we will continue to live with the virus, and with some subsequent uncertainty and anxiety. But for now, I am feeling relief and gratitude, and more freedom in my activities and interactions.

I also know that people have had such radically different experiences of this year, and also have different levels of comfort and risk in this in-between time, with some needing to slowly tiptoe back into the waters of social interaction, and others ready to do cannon balls into the deep end. It feels like a time we need to be excessively gentle and patient with ourselves and others as we each and all get our bearings in this new reality. As hard as it has been, I love that we have been learning how to be more honest about our own comfort and limits, while recognizing others who have different experiences and needs, AND then trying to live in ways that honor both our personal freedom and collective responsibility. What a crash course in both the particularity of being one human, and the interdependence of being one humanity. We have so much more to learn!

On this new threshold, I am eager to pause and reflect, personally and communally, on this extraordinary year plus of living through the pandemic. I want us to listen more deeply to ourselves and to one another, to hear what has been lost and what has been found, what has been heart-breaking, and what has been life-changing. How has God shown up in us and with us and through us? What have we learned? How have we grown? And what now? How to do we fall called to live, to be, to give ourselves in the days ahead, related to what we've witnessed and learned?

I'm thrilled to be offering the first LIVE, IN-PERSON Sacred Pause retreat in almost a year and a half, to get to gather with other enfleshed humans, to circle up and listen to ourselves and one another and sacred scripture and poetry, listening for the One how has been and will continue to be with us, guiding our way, and calling us to life after . . . ..

I'm also very curious about how the experience of the past year, the past several yeas really, have impacted people's faith. There has been so much that has been hard to process, to stomach, to hold in tension, to discern. Perhaps the experience has unearthed some questions or doubts, has prompted some disillusionment . . in ourselves or fellow human beings, in institutions we used to trust, maybe in God. Or maybe those struggles have been there for years, and this experience has deepened our hunger for a different kind of faith and community. In my June small group, we'll be making space for it all, trusting these are invitations to healing and growth, exploring the theme of Faith after Doubt, and how we might just have more questions, doubts, and longing than we've dared to admit.

I'd love to be in community and conversation with you, whether live in person, or via the wonders of Zoom. Check out these two invitations, and let me know if you'd like me to save you a seat.