COVID-19

In our Indiana home there was a gnome in my garden.  We have lovingly named him Gnomenclature.  He stood near the bird feeder with a watering can in one hand and a daisy in the other welcoming the ground feeding birds and keeping guard over the sprouting and flowering perennials in the garden.

Every spring, Gnomenclature got a "make over"-- fresh paint to recolor his clothes, boots, hat, eyes, cheeks, lips, watering can, and flower.  And, by the following Winter, he would sprout white spots that did not originate from the feeding birds.

One morning Gnomenclature had an unusual visitor, an interloper in the realm of the mourning doves and cardinals. They saw the visitor coming and quickly scattered to the branches above the feeders and the roofs of the neighboring houses.  The visitor offered no real threat to them; they weren't accustomed to seeing such a creature at their regular feeding place.

The interloper approached Gnomenclature cautiously.  This tiny elf looked and smelled like humans, but held terribly still like a rock.  The interloper crept slowly toward the gnome with ears and nose carefully focused to augment what the eyes were sensing.  When the visitor was certain that the acrylic statue offered no threat, s/he pounced on the rock beside the gnome and proceeded to eat the tender tulip that protruded through the freshly thawed garden.

As we move forward into the unknown future, we tend to do the same.  We approach the unknown cautiously; until proven otherwise, we suspect it will only do us harm. We sniff it throughly, inspect and listen to have our suspicious validated.  Only when we are nearly through the changes do we begin to relax and go about the job of finding nourishment for our souls.

But we were not born rabbit kits! We are God's favored children! The future is hope, grace, and shalom.  Scripture reminds us to "fear not!"

The news of COVID-19 is spreading fear more quickly than the illness itself, and with each news story, fear and anxiety increase. In this time when we are uncertain of what to expect, I encourage you to assume a posture of active awareness, of hope, and of faith. Paul writes to the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

In Hope and in Faith,
Carly