Streams of Mercy
Today begins our “stay at home” period for the coming month, an attempt to contain the spread of the coronavirus and turn the tide of this pandemic. Knowing that we can learn from every life experience, I’m beginning to ask “What can we learn from the experience through which we’re passing?”
I hope we can learn to be kinder and more compassionate and loving people. In a society with far too much “me” and “mine” and narcissism a growing way of life, much has been lost in recent years. In families, communities, even in churches we have fewer visible signs of caring and respect for one another than in years past. I’m blessed every time I hear the news anchor sign off “Good night, and take care of yourself, and each other.”
The coronavirus is no respecter of persons - visiting old and young, man, woman and child, even our pets, and the rich and poor of every nation. We are connected to one another as a family of living beings on God’s good earth. I’m reminded of a poem I first read in high school many years ago:
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
as well as if a promontory were,
as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were.
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind;
and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.
(from “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” by John Donne.)
Truly “we are in this together,” (#inthistogether) as we’ve heard so many times in so many ways in recent days. My heart is warmed with each random act of kindness; with healing music – did you see the two young physicians singing “Imagine?” John Lennon’s lyrics encourage the listener to imagine a world at peace, without the barriers of borders or the divisions of religion and nationality, and to consider the possibility that the whole of humanity would live unattached to material possessions-
“You, you may say I'm a dreamer But I'm not the only one I hope someday you will join us And the world will be as one.” (from Imagine, by John Lennon)
I’ve been blessed as well by stories of neighborhood heroes; with the picture of a physician Dad “high-fiving” his toddler son through their living room window, and neighbors gathering on the sidewalks of a subdivision to welcome a young girl home after her final chemo treatment; and folks in many land serenading health care workers making their way to work. There are individuals delivering groceries and medication to the elderly; and there are those stuffed animals in the windows of neighborhood homes, comforting and delighting all who pass by!
Families are experiencing forced time together, without all the activities that usually keep them so busy and separated from one another. Blessings will come from time spent together. I love hearing from my own children about how they are coping, and in some moments truly enjoying all the new togetherness. Some find themselves suddenly without work, through no fault of their own; others face the difficult task of caring for their families and teaching their children while working at home. May our families rediscover some of life that has been lost in the living and come through these days stronger and with deeper gratitude for each family member.
Recently I heard someone say this time through which we are passing will create a new humanity in many ways, and there’s great “hope” in that. I’m reminded of words of the prophet Jeremiah in Lamentations, a communal lament over Jerusalem, following its destruction by the Babylonians.
“This I call to mind, and therefore I have hope:
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
God’s mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning.
Great is God’s faithfulness.”
In that assurance of hope, let us give thanks for those streams of mercy never ceasing, carrying us through these days into all that is to come.
Elizabeth