If you are like me, the thought of this pandemic is unbelievable. I can grasp the temporary self-quarantine, the limited groceries, and the reduced traffic on the roads. Except for the beautiful spring weather, it is almost as if we are having a prolonged snow day. But. If I think about the predictions, the length of time that businesses will be closed, that there is no place in the world to escape the pandemic, and that all places are experiencing the same, then I cannot grasp the situation. When I really try and grasp the breadth, depth and complete change to society I become overwhelmed. It is like trying to understand eternity. Incomprehensible.

The thing is, so far, it is not as bad as it could be. A friend reminded me of Anne Frank and the people who had to hide during the Nazi regime. Talk about unbelievable. I wonder as they sat in silence in small, dark spaces, did they remember the previous days, weeks, years when life was full, free and without restraint? Did they look forward to a future of things they would do, places they would visit, people they would encounter?

Part of this COVID-19 experience is being in the present: we cannot bemoan the past nor can we predict and plan too much for the future. We need to be where we are, right here, right now. We need to be present and aware of what is currently going on in our lives, our community, our state, our country and our world.

It occurs to me we have two things to do: care for ourselves (the old adage of first putting on the oxygen mask before we can help others) and care for one another. I’ve been thinking about different ways to be present each day and go through this experience with (hopefully) prudence, grace, love and maybe even with some joy thrown in.

Ways to care for ourselves:

Learn something new online. Many art museums offer educational online components. Sometimes the presentation is geared more for school-aged children but it still might be something new to you. The National Gallery of Art has virtual tour of its collection.
Listen to podcasts from Spotify, Pandora. Check out your local library online to see what ebooks, audio and video items are available.
Look at youtube for classes offered from different universities. You can also find exercise videos. One of my favorite online yoga videos is on Youtube- Yoga with Adriene.
Try to accomplish one project around the house. It can give you a mental boost to feel that something was accomplished during this unusual time. Unfortunately if it is de-cluttering, you might have trouble getting rid of the clutter (many non-profits are closed and dumps may have limited hours) but you might be able to move all the things that are to go out of the house to either a garage, shed, backyard or at least boxed, labeled and ready for removal once “stay at home” recommendations are lifted.
Read the Bible. If you have never picked up a Bible, now is as good a time as any to do so. Or, if that seems too daunting, read a daily devotional. Many can be delivered daily to your email or phone. Click here to read Rick Warren’s daily devotional.
Sleep. Eat. Move. Practice good health habits. It is never too early to start. Even if you have underlying chronic conditions, you can strive to be as healthy as you can. You may not avoid getting sick but being as healthy as you can, might lessen symptoms and improve outcomes.
As always, practice good hand washing hygiene and social distancing. CDC guidelines. If you do not feel well, stay at home and self-isolate. One thing I have noticed some people are using gloves and masks and they really do not need them. Common sense (stay at home) and frequent hand washing with soap and water. Let the health care professionals who need gloves, masks and equipment (sanitizers) have them.

Ways to care for others:

Phone call, text or email to check in on your family, friends, neighbors. It is especially important for those who live alone to know that they are not forgotten.
If you are in the not-at-risk category- offer to get groceries for an at-risk neighbor (elderly, chronic condition). Offer to get groceries for a health care professional so that they do not have to stand on line after a long shift.
If your local restaurant is still offering take out, order a meal once a week or whatever your budget will allow.
Pray. When I start feeling anxious about loved ones and the future, I pause. Take a deep breath. Pray. I remember all the ways God has cared for me, my family and others in the past. I turn over all my fears and anxieties to God, trusting that He will continue to care for me, my family and others. Sometimes it is a minute by minute practice.

I have also been thinking about gratitude. The same friend who reminded me of Anne Frank also said that each evening she and her husband think of three things for which to be grateful. What an uplifting way to end the day, especially when each day brings difficult news. I heard an interview recently with the author Diana Butler Bass. Click here for the interview. Starting at 23:33 are 4 great reasons for gratitude. On her website she has some other resources for ways to practice gratitude: Click here.

What about you? What are some things you are doing during this surreal and unusual times? Are you able to care for yourself? For others? What does that look like?

Sometimes it is difficult to even take comfort from words from the Bible. But, it is important to do so. Let the words flow over and around us, letting them soak in. In the video with Ms. Butler Bass she talks about the Bible verse: “give thanks in all circumstances” (I Thessalonians 5: 18 NIV). What she notes is that it doesn’t say give thanks for all things. The word “in” in NT Greek means “through”. Through all things give thanks. What she reminds the listener is that there are many situations which we are not thankful for (nor should we): oppression, evil, injustice, sin. But we can be grateful and thankful as we go through the experience and that is what can get us to the other side.

Today’s to-do is to be grateful. Gratitude is a discipline (tool) that can help us uncover and accept our past and shape and set the tone for our future.

Have you ever had one of those “bedroom moments”? You are getting ready for the day, the radio is on and a story is so intriguing that, although you are ready to go downstairs to leave for the day, you just have to finish the story?

Last Saturday, I had one as I was listening to NPR’s Only a Game . The story was about Scott Hamilton, the skater. He has an unbelievable life story. One of loss, health scares, survival and success. He was a sickly kid, failing to grow which confounded the doctors as to the cause. He lived his early life in and out of various hospitals. No diagnosis and no effective cure. Eventually the doctors told him to go home and be a normal kid.

It was skating that seemed to help- he found his niche and his self-confidence and finally started to gain weight and grow. His mom sacrificed to provide the resources so that he could continue to skate. Skate he did- winning four consecutive world championships and an Olympic gold medal in 1984.

But at the age of eighteen he lost his mother to cancer. Twenty years after that, he himself was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Then later in his fifties, he was diagnosed with craniopharyngyioma- “brain tumors a child is born with that usually show themselves due to a lack of growth and development." As he says, that finally explained his whole childhood.

While there are many different life lessons in his story, what I find so encouraging are his thoughts about his diagnosis. He is grateful that the doctors didn’t discover the tumor when he was little. If they had, he knows that his life would not have turned out as it did.

"Now I look in the mirror and see all the scars from all the different injuries and surgeries and all the other things, and I look at them differently than I thought I would," Scott says. "Normally, you look at scars as, like, disfigurements. And I look like at them as, you know, sort of badges of honor. It's, like, that skin is tougher than it’s ever been. And it will never be hurt the same way it was before."

What an encouragement to hear how someone overcame adverse conditions to survive. He not only has he survived but thrived. He and his wife continually give back to the community in so many ways and he appears to be a man who has found peace, love and joy.

Of course, he has connections that you or I do not. But it is not so much his connections as it is his attitude and we all have access to controlling our attitudes. He could’ve decided that “Life has given me a lot of hard knocks. I have overcome them and I have worked very hard to achieve all that I have. I do not owe a thing to anybody. I am entitled to live however I see fit.” If he thought those thoughts, he pushed through them. He chose to see the bigger picture of his life and in turn was/is able to see that life is more than just about him.

I think of my friend Becky, who has also had an incredible life journey. A journey of “death, divorce and disease.” She could easily say that she has had more than her fair share of disappointment with the way that life has played out for her. Yet, through it all or despite it all, she has given back to so many through her words of encouragement.

“In everything give thanks,” the apostle Paul writes. (1 Thessalonians 5: 18) It does seem to be a strange suggestion. How in the world can one give thanks in the midst of tragedy? Why in the world should one give thanks? Aren’t we entitled to be just a little miffed if things do not go according to plan? When I start feeling that way I need to stop asking, “why?” and rather ask myself “why not?” Why should I be excluded from difficulties? Why do I think I should? Why not me? Why not test my mettle and see if I can handle it?

And it doesn’t have to be the big, life changing issues for which we need to give thanks. I also see ingratitude with the day-to-day challenges of life. There is an old nursery rhyme that warns about paying attention to details. I also think it applies to how we live our lives: we can let our attitudes with the seemingly small annoyances of life overshadow our entire persona. It is the attitude of the interruption to our planned day that can lead to a loss of joy which in turn can lead to a loss of all that God has for us.

For want of a nail the shoe was lost,

For want of a shoe the horse was lost,

For want of a horse the rider was lost,

For want of a rider the battle was lost,

For want of a battle the Kingdom was lost,

And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

When we pay attention to the “want of a nail” and practice gratitude even in small situations, we begin to develop a “muscle memory” of how to handle gratitude in larger situations. That remembrance can lift us out of self-pity and move us along on our journey.

When, and it generally takes me a little time to do so, I finally move out of self-pity and begin to give thanks, I find that I am more than just a Pollyanna. I am looking at the situation with a longer viewpoint. I can begin to see glimpses of why such and such happened. I even can see the longer viewpoint in the people around me. And I can give thanks to God for His sovereignty.

What about you? What things have you faced recently? Is there any way to see the blessing beyond the pain? Too soon in the process to do so? What about past situations? Can you apply the “want of a nail” to the situation and its outcome?

At the end of the day, I would hope that I am recognized for being faithful in gratitude for both small and large matters.

Click here to listen to Scott Hamilton’s interview. Click here to read Becky’s incredible memoir.

Today’s To-Do List

Want of a Nail...