Monday, March 23, 2020

Do not worry God cares for you!

Adult male robin in our sycamore tree
Sitting outside on my patio journaling and drinking tea is one of my favorite ways to start the day.

I love all the bird sounds. There is such a variety. I wish I could transcribe them. “Chirp, chirp” just doesn’t cut it! Somehow they can even make the sounds of lawn mowers buzzing, cars revving and planes roaring overhead sound pleasant.

Watching birds also reminds me of Jesus's words in Matthew 6.
"Look at the birds in the sky. They never sow nor reap nor store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you much more valuable to him than they are?" Matt 6:26 (J.B. Phillips)
The song "God will take care of you" has also been going through my mind a lot lately.
"God will take care of you. Through every day, o’re all the way, He will take care of you.…"
These words are as true now as they were when Civilla D. Martin wrote them in 1904.

It can be easy to lose sight of that though. Last week after we spent a while disinfecting our groceries* I suggested we should wait longer to go shopping next time because I didn't want to have to do that very many more times. But then John said we'll have to keep doing it for at least a year since it will take that long for a vaccine to be ready. I was horrified! The idea of all of this lasting for a year is too awful. I don't want to do that. It doesn't seem worth it. The saying "eat drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die" came to mind.** It may not be considered a model for Christian living but it seemed like a more sane approach. Hanging on to life at the expense of really living felt like a bad idea.

When I made the decision to self isolate due to low immunity during this pandemic I imagined it would be like a "stay-cation." A few weeks to maybe even a month, at most two, of not going out much but maybe seeing a few friends and getting lots of projects done at home. I could even spend extra time praying. Here was my chance, I thought, to try out life as a religious hermit like one the ancient "desert mothers" of the early church!

The reality has been very different. Disinfecting groceries and cleaning doorknobs and light switches wasn't part of the fantasy! Trying to keep track of the constantly shifting situation in our city, country and world is probably taking up too much of my attention. Seeing anyone besides my husband is out--doctor's orders--and especially now since Dallas county was put on lock down today. Going to get supplies for projects is out too. I have been praying more, though. So that is one thing I was hoping for that is happening. But it mostly feels like the, "O God help!" kind of prayers.

Later when I was looking up the Matthew 6 passage about the birds I read the rest of the passage and was reminded that Jesus also said:
“Don’t worry at all then about tomorrow. Tomorrow can take care of itself! One day’s trouble is enough for one day.” Matthew 6:34 (PHILLIPS)
Maybe it won't last as long as John said. No one really knows. But we do know that God cares for us and Jesus said not to worry!

A few days ago I started feeling unwell. My Mom, brother and husband have also had some worrying symptoms this weekend. Any other time our various symptoms would not have been at all worrying. But of course now when we have a little temperature or feel a cold or other symptoms coming on the automatic fear is it could be COVID 19! The fear is what is so draining.

It appears that we are getting better. My Mom's temp went down to normal and mine has been normal off and on this weekend and my brother said he felt better yesterday. So we are hopeful all is well.

So each day is an exercise in fighting worry. Even just trying to write a coherent article when things keep changing is challenging. This was written over several days with many changes but it is all still true! Do Not Worry! God Cares For You!

Notes:
*An article in the New York times suggested: a solution of 1 tsp bleach in one gallon of water to spray on things and then air dry. We dipped some things, like grapes and other fruit and veg in a pan of the solution. We sprayed it on other things like boxes. Just a light spray should be enough you don't want the boxes to get too wet.

(**I just looked it up and it is apparently a conflation of a couple of verses.)

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