All in Thoughts
It’s been a long week or two for all of us. We’ve been changed by everything that we have seen and heard and felt. For most of us, we are wondering what each day will bring and what will be asked of us in response. This week I am taking up a challenge that I invite you into as well. I am going to listen more than I speak. Listen more than I react. Listen more before I pray.
I was out for a walk today and noticed that people have been busy decorating their homes for Christmas. There were inflatables, nativity sets, snowmen, sleds, candy canes and lights galore. I love it. I don’t do it, but I love that someone loves to do this. The twinkling lights can’t help but make us happy.
This week has so many of us feeling a bit lost. It should be a week of cleaning and cooking, planning and preparing on a larger scale than usual. But most of us will be at home, with our usual people, weathering the storm of Covid - zooming away with family far and wide. It’s not what we thought we’d be doing this year, but here we are.
The church in this picture is the parish I grew up in - St. Joseph Cathedral in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My dad was transferred a few times before we landed in this place, and I was really small. It's the place where I was raised, not just by my parents, but by the community.
I have to laugh when I see the hype for a cup of coffee. For the Pumpkin Spice Latte - it's all seriousness. I know it's appearance is more than just a new flavor - especially this year. We love traditions - they bring order and sense to our lives and make things seem right and good. This year has been anything but normal and order has seemed to be on the fritz.
One of the things about a crisis is that we have to react somehow - indifferent, worried, scared, hopeful or anything in between. For many of us, the early months of being safe at home has stretched out into an unknown timeline or perhaps having to go back to work and worrying.
