Pandemic Reflection Questions
A few weeks ago, I listened to a devotion written by a fellow clergywoman. As a part of her devotion, she asked the listener to reflect on and answer the following questions:
What has this pandemic taken from you?
What has this pandemic not taken from you?
What has this pandemic given you?
I have spent some time each week reflecting on these questions. My answers change regularly- sometimes multiple times a day, depending on how I am feeling. I have even written down these questions (changing them to first-person) and taped them to my bathroom mirror and to the window by my desk. This guarantees that at least twice a day, in the morning and evening, I will see them and think about them.
I hope that you find these questions helpful and that you take the time to reflect on them this week. I feel like it is so easy for us to dwell on the first question- the things that have been taken from us. It is important for us to name those things, and even to grieve them.
But it is just as important for us to name the things we still have- even if they might feel like small things. It’s those things we still have and that we have been given that are going to get us through the days when we feel like we have nothing left.
And taking it one step further, it is important for us to pay attention to the things that we have been given in this time; things that might not have happened or that we may have missed if we were going about business as usual. While it feels like everything has turned upside down, there are still opportunities each day for new things to become a part of our life.
Here are my answers to the question for today, just to offer a little insight as to where my heart is today:
What has this pandemic taken from you?
I think the biggest thing that has been taken from me is the opportunity to go where I want whenever I want. Instead of going to the grocery store whenever I need to, I have to plan out my visit so that I can get all the supplies I need for two weeks in one trip. Even when using the online shopping and pick-up option, I still have to schedule when I’m showing up to the store instead of just arriving to get what I need. Losing this sense of…freedom…has been more difficult than I expected.
What has this pandemic not taken from you?
My job, and for that I am extremely grateful. I am thankful for the flexibility to be able to work from home and to find ways to connect with children and families online throughout the week. I am thankful for technology that allows us to still worship together, even if not in person. I am thankful for a staff and a congregation that allows us to try new things and supports us in this new way of doing church.
What has this pandemic given you?
Ironically, I feel like I have a more active social life now in the midst of the pandemic than before it. I gather virtually with friends at least once a week to just hang out and check-in, but also to play board games or participate in virtual trivia with teams from around the country. I have mentioned in the past that it was really hard to move to a new city where I knew no one almost three years (!!!) ago. It has been hard to make friends and find community. But the pandemic has allowed me to build deeper relationships with folx who are now my friends and to reconnect with folx from previous chapters of my life. For these relationships that are getting me through some lonely days, I am extremely thankful.
Prayer
God, we lift up to you the things that we miss most- things like hugs, and gathering with people we love, and going to places we miss. We pray that you are with us in the times when we feel like we have lost more than we have gained in this time. But we also give thanks for the things we still have- our health, our homes, our trust in you. For the things that are sustaining us in this time of being apart from each other, we give thanks to you. As we move throughout our days, help us to not focus just on the things we miss, but on the things we have, and even the new things we have been given. We give thanks for your presence in our lives, God, and are thankful that in the moments of grieving and of rejoicing, your presence is constant and always with us. We pray this in your name, Amen.
Rev. Kristen Koger, Pastor for Children and Families, First Baptist Church of Decatur