Dear Precious ones who I love and miss and want to hug in the worst kind of way!!!
It is meeting time and love note time, and I usually climb in my comfy covers with at least 5 books and 3 half started journals spread out. I am in my total happy zone and my mind drifts to Hugh smiling in the doorway saying sweetly, “Hey sweet Angel, I know that God will tell you exactly what you need to share.” But tonight, I know that is true yet I have so much to say and never before have I wanted to say just the right thing. There is this weighty responsibility I feel to share hope without coming across as one who is flippant about the seriousness of the world condition.
I was telling Britt today that I want to be respectful of others and try to tap down my usual enthusiasm for life but I can not squelch that enthusiasm and belief in the good in the middle of what seems treacherous. I am seeing evidence of so many wonderful things happening in my little slice of the world and in the greater world. People are worrying more about what they can do as a citizen of the world rather than thinking of themselves as separate. We are truly trying to be our brother’s keeper and that is an unexpected miracle in the middle of mayhem. I did not expect this lump to start forming in my throat as I am writing, but here it is and what do I do with it?
You know that I am not afraid of the big things but I don’t want to come across to others that I am unaffected about what is happening in our community. . We never planned for a Pandemic, that is what we read about in the science fiction books but turns out we are living those novel plots out in real time and we are so unsure of how the story ends. People are telling the story in so many different ways, so who do we listen to?
I know. I know. As soon as I asked the question I know in the deepest of my knowing. I will listen to the story in my heart, the one that tells me that the history of my life shows me that we can do really hard things. And in the doing of those really hard things, we find new ways to live. We find new ways to love each other, usually a little more and with less restrictions on who gets that love. We may be practicing social distancing in a physical fashion but the reality of this is calling us to draw closer to each other in ways that matter.
I will, we all will depend on the history of our past and all the things that we feared that turned out not just for our good but for our greater good. I think we will also never again minimize the value of human connection and the relevance it has in our physical, spiritual and mental health. If ever before, I hope we all learn the value of all of us, not just some of us. It turns out that that butterfly wing that flaps across the globe is felt in the lives and the breathing in and breathing out of all of us.
My prayer is that we will never be the same. No never the same. But smarter, wiser, more grateful and far more loving to all God’s kids. We are all in this together and I am believing that our story ends well. And as we tell the story let’s tell the story of how we all worked fiercely to make a difference not just in our little corner of the world but in the whole of mankind. I love being my brother’s keeper and so thankful God trusts us to do so.
I love you all so much I can barely contain it and the idea that I can not hug you makes me want to hug you forever until you make me stop!!! Okay so I am a little dramatic, but hey you knew that already. Thank you for being the most amazing humans on the planet and for sharing your lives with me!!!
Grateful beyond expression!!!
Karen
Ps. I am kind of excited about our Zoom meeting tomorrow and I keep thinking about the Brady bunch squares and the old game Hollywood Squares.
Pps. If we social distance long enough I may eventually clean out my other closets.
Pps. I really do believe that song and can hear it in my soul, “He’s got the whole world in HIs hands.”
*Note about this picture: These are some precious girls I met in a gym in Nashville right before we all found out we needed to not only stop traveling from place to place. But we needed to stay as close to home and stay distant from others. I have the deepest yearning to reach out and hug the whole world at one time.