Connections: Spiders and sanity (and free stuff)

Covenant Connections:

Spiders and sanity

All in-person activities at Covenant have been canceled until further notice.

Greetings!

On Wednesday, as I was driving to church, I turned on the radio in my car to get the latest updates on the virus situation.

I was momentarily stunned to hear a rather mundane discussion of spiders. My initial response was "Why are you talking about this nonsense when there is a pandemic going on???"

But I continued listening, gradually becoming grateful for a break from the virus news.

I enjoyed hearing about the brown recluse spider (pictured here) and conversation about various exotic spiders, along with standard precautions against tick bites.

In the chaos of the coronavirus, I find myself getting too easily stressed out and too frequently clicking on news updates. Yes, we need to stay informed and be cautious, but we also need to stay sane and at peace. So thanks to the The Larry Meiller Show on Wisconsin Public Radio, I got a 10 minute dose of sanity and peace.

Are you making space for sanity and peace?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've taken new comfort in some familiar activities, to help with the sanity and peace:

MEDITATION--I was using Simple Habit for a couple of years, and now I'm trying Calm. Both apps have free content to help us breathe and focus in our current situation.

Take a deep breath right now....

FICTION--I enjoyed John Grisham's The Guardians and I'm about halfway thru a delightful novel by Barbara Kingsolver called Unsheltered.

WALKING--I've been trying to walk around our neighborhood every day. Seems like a lot of people are doing the same. We keep our distance and say hello.

TV--My wife and I have enjoyed "Gentefied" on Netflix, a drama-comedy about a Mexican-American family in Los Angeles, and with our sons we enjoyed watching the 2019 crime-comedy movie, "Knives Out".

SCRIPTURE and PRAYER--I've been more attentive to spiritual habits in these day, recognizing the importance of staying rooted and grounded in God.

I invite you to check out the YouVersion app, where you can read the Bible and go through devotional plans, like the six-day "From Anxiety to Peace" plan which I just finished today. Click on the image above for more info. Or read Matthew with our devotional; see below.

Just as parents on airplanes are told to put the oxygen masks on themselves before helping their kids, we all need to make sure to take care of ourselves, as we care for others and deal with this challenging situation.

While we've heard it before, please: stay at home as much as possible, wash your hands, love your neighbors (from a distance), and stay informed (see box below). And take care of yourself.

This situation may continue for quite a while. But like Jesus advises us in Matthew 6:25-34 we need to take it one day at a time.

We will get through this.

On the journey together,

Charlie

SUNDAY WORSHIP

On Sunday March 22 we will worship online together. Sunday morning, you will receive an email from Covenant with a link to watch the 25-minute service anytime.

If you want to interact with other people as you worship, you can join with a Facebook Watch Party. Just go to Covenant's Facebook page 10:30 on Sunday morning to watch the pre-recorded worship as a community.

Worship features Vocalist Melissa Hinz, Pianist Ben Welch, and Pastor Charlie Berthoud.

More Free Stuff: Our friends at Illustrated Ministry have made a few prayer coloring sheets available for us. Click on my "masterpiece" below to access a blank pdf which you can color in as you pray.

Stay Informed

Center for Disease Control updates here:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Public Health Madison and Dane County

https://publichealthmdc.com/coronavirus

Many reputable news sources (Wisconsin State Journal, Washington Post, New York Times, etc.) are offering free online coverage of the coronavirus.

Stay Connected

Call or text your Covenant staff if you have a concern or emergency:

Pastor Charlie Berthoud, 608-515-3761
Associate Pastor Jeff Fox-Kline, 608-352-9062
Parish Associate Sue Melrose, 608-352-4066
Children's Ministries Coord & Pastoral Care Donna Monson, 608-212-7257
Youth Ministries Coord Steve Royalton, 608-358-9495
Church Administrator Mary Kieta, 608-516-9798

MOBILE MINISTRY

For children and families

Activities and spiritual nurture compiled by our children's ministries people:

https://www.covenantmadison.org/mobile-ministry

IF YOU NEED HELP

If you need food or medicine or need to get to appointments, we have Covenant members who have offered to run errands and help however they can. Please contact Pastor Charlie or Pastor Jeff if you need assistance.

Through the season of Lent we are reading the Gospel of Matthew and want you to join along! Members and friends of Covenant have written devotional reflections to help you with your reading. Click to download the Lenten devotional.

Or click on the image above and enter your email address to receive a daily email from Covenant with the day's reading and devotional.

Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.

---1 Corinthians 16:13-14