Saving each other

Daily Devotion - April 3

I will send a brief message each day (except Mondays) while we are pausing gathering in person.
- Kara

There are lots of ways to tell the story we are living in, and they can be equally true. Many of us are stuck at home. That's one way to tell it.  All of us who stay home are saving lives. That's another way.

This week I heard (from a very helpful podcast for families during this time, called In the Bubble, with Andy Slavitt). that a single person who goes about their daily business can be responsible for up to 40 deaths.  Likewise, every person who stays home is possibly saving up to 40 lives.  

One story is that you are a victim of circumstances. Another is that you are sacrificing to save others.  

For many of us, this form of sacrifice is indeed a sacrifice. Aside from all we've lost and let go of in this time, there's also a frustration at the sense of helplessness, when what we might long for is helpfulness. Staying home and "doing nothing" doesn't feel like a contribution. But it is the best thing we can be doing. Indeed, we are contributing. We are helping.  (There are lots of other ways we can be helping from home too).

So first of all, I want to say to you who are staying home, Thank you for your sacrifice.

But then, many of us are out there in the world as essential workers: garbage collectors, postal carriers, delivery drivers, and so many more, - those who are risking their own well-being and even lives on the a daily basis, on what has become "the front lines." Health care workers.  Grocery store workers.  These are our heroes.  

So I want to say to you who are on the front lines, Thank you for your service.

There are only four kinds of people in the world: those who have been caregivers, those who are currently caregivers, those who will be caregivers, and those who need caregiving.” — Rosalynn Carter (shared by The On Being Project)

Our caregivers right now are scared, under-equipped, tired. They are called in to work extra shifts bagging groceries, and being taken off their floors and out of their niches of expertise to assist in the E.R. They're being pulled out of retirement, or graduating early right into the fray. They're going home to their own families, stripping off their clothes before they enter the house, stepping into the shower, skipping the welcome home hug. 

How blessed we are to be cared for by these people!

Blessed are you, who walk the beat bringing messages and packages right to our doors, day after day.

Blessed are you, who take away our trash and leave our cans empty, ready for the next week's worth of living to fill them up again. 

Blessed are you, ready to receive us, wearing the one mask you are allotted for the whole day, gently lifting us into bed when the fever rises, and helping us breathe when the air wont come.

Blessed are you, who stand all day long, separated by nothing more than a a narrow counter while the rest of us remain quietly on our bright tape Xs, six feet apart from each other.

Blessed are we, to be cared for by these people, and blessed are our caregivers!

Here is a blessing for a nurse, by John O'Donahue

...In this fragile frontier-place, your kindness

Becomes a light that consoles the brokenhearted,
Awakens within desperate storms
That oasis of serenity that calls
The spirit to rise from beneath the weight of pain,
To create a new space in the person's mind
Where they gain distance from their suffering
And begin to see the invitation
To integrate and transform it.

May you embrace the beauty in what you do
And how you stand like a secret angel
Between the bleak despair of illness
And the unquenchable light of spirit
That can turn the darkest destiny toward dawn.

May you never doubt the gifts you bring;
Rather, learn from these frontiers
Wisdom for your own heart.
May you come to inherit
The blessings of your kindness
And never be without care and love
When winter enters your own life.

 from "For a Nurse," in To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings, by John O'Donahue.

(20 Ways to support healthcare workers and others on the Front Lines)
(United Way Helping those most vulnerable - with food, housing, assistance)

CONNECTING RITUAL:

Perhaps, tonight before we go to bed, whatever time that is in each of our homes, we might pray this prayer, and so join our hearts:
God bless those caring for us all in this time.
Give them comfort.
Give them peace.
Give them courage.
Give them rest.
Show me this week how I can bless the caregivers in my life.
Amen.

This week, we are reading through the Gospel of John.  In my house, it is at the dinner table. Maybe for you, it will be when you wake up, or before bed, or over lunch.  It can be read in about 20 minutes a day, or by reading three chapters each day.  If this is your approach, today, we are reading Chapters 19-21. This completes the book!