P.S. Summer wisps of those who were here before

 Well, I'm thinking we are continuing on a snail's pace trip to something. I don't expect any part of this pandemica to eventually bring us back to normal, or something we may have once thought as normal. Remember when things were normal and we called them cray cray days? pffffffft. What. Were. We. Thinking, eh?

At any rate, there is a ripple effect of our days' microscopic shifting, and the church ghosts are restless. Faint conversations  this week, a little instrumental backdrop that comes and goes, Afternoons especially. I wish I had some 3D glasses or some such that could let me see the layers of what goes on here in that spirit kind of way. 

Don't they know that it doesn't take much to rattle the living? We've lost a few beloved folks over these hard days. Some are waiting to go to their final resting places, is it antsy-ness that I sense? Members-gone-by- not understanding why they can't check in to their chosen spots here? IDK. I'm pretty sure some who are here, are missing the visits from family and friends who used to come by to sit with them in the peaceful Columbarium - inside or outside closer to nature and traffic. Maybe the conversation is among those folks. Strength in numbers, hey, I hear you! Visiting hours will return one day, they will!

Visits will return when it is safe; programs, groups, and group worship in person, too. I won't say be patient, because it wouldn't help those who are DONE with all this, but I will say this- With the efforts I've seen happening here, the time and creativity staff are pouring into the days here, well, it's enough for an old Church Chick like me to notice that maybe God does work in mysterious ways sometimes. I'm seeing connections being made between people who missed  out on that  before this virus came upon us. I'm seeing new and different ways to see and feel the presence of  something bigger, aren't you? 

Every day, even now, I hear and see staff stretching their minds and wills to see what may be missing and to find ways to meet those needs when conventional means aren't available right now. It's really amazing from where I sit. It really is. Embrace, embrace, embrace and remember how loved you are every minute of every day no matter what! In person, not in person. On the phone, or video. Snail mailing is back in fashion, and writing someone can be its own form of meditation. Getting a letter in the mail can feel so comforting, uplifting, too. Collecting, delivering, waving as you go by, lots of reaching in to reach out.

I'm not meaning to sing the lemonade out of lemons song here, don't get me wrong. I have a friend who calls that thinking Pollyanna- I'm not feeding you that, or anything really, other than my own observations that something bigger is at work here. Something bigger is with you ; I see it happening  through the efforts of a magically talented staff. I just hope you, and me, and us- can let go of shoulds, supposed tos, whens and I wants, and feel the moment. This one. This one minute.This is the one I appreciate, and you are all in it with me.