March 26, 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic
Colleagues,
I just wanted to check in and see how each of you were doing.
By now, we are settling into our very real new realities. For some of us, even while we weep for New Orleans, our nation, and the globe, we rejoice in the ability to pause, to be still, and to physically distance ourselves from the stressors of our everyday mode of living. I say all that to say, I have been using this time to greet myself arriving-anew (to paraphrase one of my favorite poems by Derek Walcott), to recognize that every interruption is an invitation, and that a miracle is simply a change in perception. Immense gratitude in a maelstrom of uncertainty.
I am keenly aware in the midst of times like this how easy it is for people in power to cling to what they know without recognizing that each of us is human, each of us are dealing with very human issues like the death of loved ones, the fear of others being and becoming ill, and in some cases many of us might be begrudgingly coming face to face with the possibility of our own end. At times like these, I cling to community.
Please let me know if you need anything or if I can add you to my prayer lists.
As we each go about our work in the confines of our own homes, please know and remember that we are more than the work we can produce and that our humanity can never be reduced simply to labor. We are a community; I'm lifting each of you and your families up in prayer and adding each of you to my daily rosary. Be well. Be still. Trust in the Infinite. Remember our shared humanity. Be community. Please do let me know how you are doing. Lifting you up and pressing forward, DRM, PhD