Flash forward to Pandemic days....
The church is on LOCKDOWN, BABY! I've moved my office to the front desk, and have transitioned it from an official church reception desk to a, well, a nest. I've cut the lights way down, and I have a lot more desktop space than I do in my real office nest.
Depending on how long I'm going to be relocated, I may bring my fairy lights and plug them in. We'll see.
So what does lockdown look like in a church with over 3,000 members? Different. What does it feel like with only me, our exec director, finance, and the maintenance boys here? Quiet, and I'm okay with that part. What in the world do I have to do since calendaring is pretty moot at the moment, and there are no people roaming about who need things from me? LOTS, SISTER. LOTS. ...And that is exactly the question that brought me to writing again from my Church Chickness.
My therapist wondered if readers may be interested in hearing from the Church Chick's perspective during a FREAKING PANDEMIC! Sorry. I mean be interested in hearing from my perspective in these unique days and times. Your feedback and following will tell the tale on that.
If you want to follow me, or subscribe, look to the right of the blog, then you should automatically know when I've posted. Just a thought. SOOOO
Here we are in day 5 of the world as we don't know it. I've been jotting notes down for bits to share, and I may add a few unrelated stories, too.
Awkward moment of one day this week-
I got a very matter of fact call from the programming person with the 'movie' group. "We had a movie scheduled for this week, so we're okay canceling that."
I hesitated...Thought about the increasingly unavoidable scary news, the clear messages that had been sent to the congregation via social media and not so social media, saying, WE ARE CLOSING DOWN THE CHURCH. I thought about the people pacing around outside of the church wearing sandwich signs that said, THE CHURCH IS IN LOCKDOWN STARTING NOW! NO ONE IS ALLOWED NEAR! BACK AWAY BACK AWAY, ESPECIALLY ANYONE YOUR AGE, WHATEVER THAT IS- NO EXCEPTIONS.
And I wondered about the signs in the sky, written with witch broom exhaust, GO HOME AND PRAY RIGHT NOW, YES, YOU! Then I spoke."Well, that's good, glad that's ok."
She continued. "But next week we are going on a field trip to the local cemetery. Do you think the church would let us use the church van?" The visual took me aback. A metal box on wheels, full of specifically designated AT RISK individuals (and their equipment) taking a field trip during a PANDEMIC to a cemetery. "Um, no." "Great! Wait! Did you say NO, you do NOT think the church will let us use the van, even if we get Craig, an approved driver, to take us?" " Right. Uh, you know there's this virus thing going 'round."
She sighed. "Oh, yeah, but we only put 2 people in a seat last time and there was plenty of room for their walkers and more, so it's not like they are even touching each other."
I heard a quiet chuckle and saw Jesus push himself up and onto the desk beside my phone ; he leaned in closer so he could hear better. I put the phone in my lap and glared at him. "You are not helping, here. Isn't that what you are supposed to do, help?" He smiled that same smile he gives all the little children- All the children of the world, and I was not amused. "Well, I know it is a disappointment, but things have changed a lot since your last field trip, so I am pretty sure the church is going to say NO WAY."
"Oh, okay. Well, I guess we could drive our own cars, but we can't walk very far, so that wouldn't work." and I thought a horrible, terrible, human nature awful bad thought that I was sure would send Jesus into orbit. I thought to myself, "Well if you guys can't walk, why the heck are you going to ride in a container on wheels to the cemetery in the first place? Is this some kind of group drop and bury trip? That does not sound like a great idea to me."
I glanced up, expecting my ghostly company to be gone, but there he sat, slowly waving his finger back and forth. I spoke out loud into the phone. "Maybe another day would be better, like after all of this has passed."
She said, "I guess so." and hung up.
Have a safe and sanitary weekend, friends. Thanks for the support through this first week of IDK
1 comment:
Yes!
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