Monday, March 8, 2021

Smiling Faces

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” – Romans 15: 13 Revised Standard Version

In the early days of the pandemic, I remember remarking to my husband that I never realized so many people lived in our neighborhood.

In March and April, as we all learned how to adapt to the new rules and restrictions, the sidewalks around my house were flooded with people. Everyone apparently wanted to walk, needed to walk. At almost every hour of the day, you would see singletons and couples and frequently families with young children out for a stroll. Husbands and wives would walk hand-in-hand in the middle of the day. Just because.

Kindness was contagious. People crossed the street to avoid walking into someone. But they waved and smiled. Occasionally someone would shout a greeting, always with good humor about the oddity of the situation. Walkers kept their distance, often slowing down to avoid walking on top of another person.

We did not know at the start that a year later, we would still be wearing masks and keeping distant from others. But our initial response was that we could do this! We believed we were up to this challenge.

And we still are.

A year in, we have developed more coping responses than we had when the pandemic began. But we’ve grown weary and perhaps less optimistic that life will return to the normal that we want. We’ve gotten bored.

I want to carry with me that feeling of hope and resilience that we first embraced when the pandemic began.

Prayer: Help me to remember that I am strong and capable because you support me in all that I do. I can survive. I can get through each day because Jesus walks by my side through the good times and the bad. Help me to raise my sight to the horizon and stay focused on what lies ahead and not to be consumed by the challenges of today.

Joan Richardson