Dear Holy Comforter family,

I don’t know about you, but I find this time confusing. One of the hardest things about social distancing—had you ever even heard that phrase before last week?—is not knowing how long it will last. It makes me anxious when I can’t tell where the parameters are. It’s like everyday the goal posts move a little further away.

How are you? We want to know. Tell us how you are spending your time. What are your tips for distracting your toddlers or your teenagers. How are you managing loneliness? Let’s use technology to stay connected. In the meantime, here’s is a beautiful poem by Lynn Unger.

May God bless you and keep you!

Your sister in Christ, Ann+

Pandemic

What if you thought of it

as the Jews consider the Sabbath—

the most sacred of times?

Cease from travel.

Cease from buying and selling.

Give up, just for now,

on trying to make the world

different than it is.

Sing. Pray. Touch only those

to whom you commit your life.

Center down.

And when your body has become still,

reach out with your heart.

Know that we are connected

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful.

(You could hardly deny it now.)

Know that our lives

are in one another’s hands.

(Surely, that has come clear.)

Do not reach out your hands.

Reach out your heart.

Reach out your words.

Reach out all the tendrils

of compassion that move, invisibly,

where we cannot touch.

Promise this world your love–

for better or for worse,

in sickness and in health,

so long as we all shall live.

–Lynn Ungar 3/11/20