What am I doing. I definitely don’t have time to be writing a blog post right now. I need to clean up dinner, plan our schedule for tomorrow so our day doesn’t feel as hectic as today, and catch up on all of the work I didn’t have time to do during my day today.
But I have a lump in my throat and I think writing out all of my thoughts will help. And maybe, possibly, it could help you, too.
I drove through our downtown today and the once bustling, hard to park, crowded streets were mostly empty. People were practicing social distancing like bosses and the art supplies I was running out for were hand-delivered and fully plastic-wrapped through my car door by a store clerk in gloves. We ran the credit card through the phone so we wouldn’t have to have any physical contact.
It really freaked me out. Our new archbishop suspended Masses for the foreseeable future today and when I drove past our local parish, made the sign of the Cross, and chorused, “Jesus, we love you!” with my boys, it hit me that I may not be able to receive Jesus for a significant amount of time. For those who don’t feel that weight, it’s almost as if you have to be apart from your spouse for an unknowable amount of time.
So, I’ve been reflecting on what the bleep is happening to our world. Praise God that the technology for home delivery and curbside pickup had been nearly perfected by big box stores and Amazon prior to the outbreak of Coronavirus. Praise God that we live in an age with FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom, so events can still somewhat take place, connections can still be made, and our very humanity can at least feel normal.
But what I hope from this forced time spent in majorly virtual reality is that we will be left aching, yearning, striving for the physical connection to each other, to Jesus in the Eucharist, to crowded restaurants, and, for the love of Pete, a high five.
I firmly believe that the Lord will use this time to reveal to us how vastly secondary our virtual connections are to real, human, physical connection. Our culture has been running, full-speed, toward the most digital culture we’ve ever known and only a worldwide pandemic would awaken us to the futility of this pursuit.
Don’t get me wrong. Many, many technologies that have arisen from our digital culture are very good, but alongside them, real connections have been shallowly substituted for by social media. With that, our patience, problem-solving, creativity, understanding of vulnerability, and absorption of the present moment, have been at stake for a long time.
I pray that this time will be fruitful for us all. We are forced to stay at home with our closest connections for an unknown amount of time. This is the time we’ve been praying for. When the whole world can witness the power and beauty of the family.
“If you want to change the world, go home and love your family.” - Saint Teresa of Calcutta
AMDG,
Holly