This Too Shall Pass

Yesterday, anticipating the “shelter in place” order that is coming, I went out into the petri dish of our current world to gather a few items that might be needed while I’m housebound and to collect up essentials from my office since I’ll be working at home for the foreseeable future. The cashier at Costco made a comment to his colleague that today’s customers were much better behaved then the customers the day before and what a wonderful difference that made. I wondered as I watched people walking by with laden carts, how much of what was being purchased would end up being returned (provided the time to return it hadn’t expired by the time shelter in place is over), would spoil or would be donated to a food pantry when things return to a more “normal” scenario. I acknowledged to myself, that I was buying both things that were staples and would last for a long time, and emotional comfort items that I really didn’t need. Both Schnuck’s and Costco had signs limiting the number of some items a family could purchase, and both were out of the kleenix I am starting to run low on. As I struggle to figure out what this next new normal is like and how to behave, I wonder where God is in all of this. Then I step outside, where the Tulip Magnolias, red buds and other trees are blooming. I look out over the dogwoods with their petals still a yellow color since they haven’t opened up all the way yet. The forsythia is in bloom along with a few bushes I can’t quite name, while the crocus and daffodils are defiantly waving their heads in the breeze. The birds are building nests in my birdhouses getting ready to lay their eggs. And I realize that all around me, God is saying, this too shall pass and Life shall go on. I look around again and see neighbors shopping for neighbors who are more vulnerable. People coming up with ways to entertain others (artwork in the yards, pictures in front windows, etc) to bring a smile to neighbors walking by, similar to what is happening in Italy with people singing from their rooftops and windows and hanging signs out with rainbows on them saying: “andra tutto bene” which means Everything will be all right” or “don’t give up” and the Chinese are using the phrase “jiayou” which means “don’t give up” or “hang in there”. The next few weeks or perhaps months, won’t be easy on any of us, but together, with God’s help, we will weather what is happening and come out stronger and more unified then we were before.