Messiness in this Pandemic ~ Mike Tostrud

Staff, February 19, 2021

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace."  
~ Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Boy, this is a big one to tackle. The pandemic has created a “new normal’ none of us could have contemplated. We have been isolated from family, friends, colleagues, and clients; we are limited in our opportunity to visit places that enliven and restore us. Countless loved ones, others we know of - and some we don’t know at all - have lost their lives, or have had their lives forever altered.  
Yet, in midst of the challenges some have found new ways to connect personally, returned to old hobbies or discovered new ones, and hopefully found a little more time for contemplation in our days.  
I miss seeing my Mom as much as I did before; I miss my friends; I miss seeing my work peers; I miss traveling with my daughters. But I am grateful for my health. I cherish the deeper connection I’ve found with loved ones; I pray harder for unity, empathy, and justice to blanket the world. And I pray the pandemic will end. Our lives will not be the same when it does but I hope we hold on to some of those things that have awoken our love for one another, brought peace to our hearts and minds, and unified us in ways we had not witnessed before.
I think this season may be best summed up in the reflection from Ecclesiastes 3:1  “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven”

I pray you find peace and perspective in whatever season you find yourself in. Amen.