COVID Angels

 I sat down to write my blog this week, I realized I am in a time of mixed emotions.  After 15 months of trying to do a ministry of pastoral care by phone, computer, Zoom, face masks, social distancing and a small bubble of social contacts, things are slowly starting to open up and that means change.  I am very hopeful that one by one, the barriers we have created to protect ourselves and others will begin to come down.   

Comox United Church is anticipating a return to in-person worship in early September. Throughout the summer, the leadership team will be struggling with the pros and cons of live-streaming this fall.  We will be gearing up to begin a time of visioning and dreaming about our future.  What existing and new programing might we offer this fall?  Now that I have been vaccinated as well as most of the people I know, I am beginning to meet with people in the parks, in their back yards and on their decks.  It is a time of change. It is a time of hope.  

For me, it is also a time of anxiety.  As much as I resisted and fretted about trying to do ministry using a model of technology that I didn’t care for, or was comfortable with – I learned new skills and, over time, learned to connect with people in ways other than in-person. Adjusting to the new rules which are a mix of pre, during and post COVID is a challenge.  When should I wear a mask?  When is an elbow bump an appropriate way to greet someone?  Is offering to come to someone’s house helpful or really just putting them on the spot and forcing them out of their comfort zone?  

As I figure out how to navigate this new reality, I am also overcome with gratitude that I survived the pandemic (I think the worst is over!).  I have to admit there were days when I wondered if I would.  Although I was trying, I often just felt inadequate, and just about the time, I would be ready to admit defeat, someone or something would change that feeling.  

Sometimes it was a call from an old friend in Alberta, sometimes it was connecting with a colleague who had similar challenges, and often it was my partner Carol, reminding me that it was really about remembering that I was doing work that God called me to do – and that was enough.  Sometimes I would be trudging through the forest on my own and around the bend would come someone and we would stop to chat – kindred spirits for those few minutes.  Sometimes, when I was starting to believe that it was all just irrelevant, I would get a text, an e-mail, a phone call or a comment, reminding me that something I had done mattered – maybe a blog, a prayer, an e-mail or a phone call that somehow made someone else’s life just a little easier.  

I might be hopeful; I might be anxious in these times of change but mostly what I am feeling today is grateful for all those along the way that made this pandemic just a little easier to bear.  I’m sure that you encountered people along the journey who made your COVID existence a little easier as well.  Take a moment to remember who they are.  Do you think God sent them to you, just when you needed them the most? I do. And most of you know who you are – I’ll just think of you as my COVID angels sent from God,  

Thank-you

Wayne