I just returned from an early morning walk. Walks have been a part of my daily routine these last several years. So nothing new there, except that those excursions now seem to have an added dimension. And when I return to the house those added dimensions become a part of the conversation. "This time I met so and so, and I met these two women. One made a right angled turn off the walkway and avoided even eye contact, the other a friendly greeting even as we keep the two meter distance".
These variations happen each day. A family walks by with three squirmy kids and I greet them all, and I get happy replies. An old man walks with slow careful steps - no greeting; shortly thereafter another man and he comes complete with a full-face grin and a cheery greeting and tribute to the gorgeous morning. Joggers come by either with athletic concentration or a cheery wave; same with the winter cyclists. Nothing all that noteworthy here? It is but par for the variety of my neighbors and their activity. So what is it? The difference, the added dimension, is probably me. The difference seems to be that I am now making note. Before this Corona awareness I also took walks - in addition to acquasize three times weekly. Those walks included seemingly no people watching - at least not consciously so. In the earlier walks my mind was occupied with other things - happenings going on immediately before or after. Now the 'walk in the park' is one of the distinctive and few things I do each day. And now the smile or wave of fellow social distancers is a significant thing.
Similarly in our homes, I think. For the past two weeks we have had our son and daughter-in-law and their two kids with us. My wife and I became the beneficiaries of the required 14 day quarantine after they returned home early from their trip around the world. We have been delighted - no one with greater pleasure than grandma cooking and baking and feeding and talking and ... also an awareness that this is different. Each day includes considerable time in front of the TV getting the latest from our Prime Minister and the World Health Organization and some news updates. Even while one of us is glued to the News several of us want a bit of break, so out comes Solitaire or Facebook or a game or a noisy discussion with grandkids about how much time on the device - except we have limited suggestions as to what else they might do. Options, different ways of being at home with one another because this is after all, quarantine.
I am reminded of a topic I encountered myriads of times when making pastoral visits. After a significant telling of an incident - either happy or sad - there would be opportunity to reflect on what we might make of it (choices) - and often followed by the expected Bible references like Philippians 4: 4-9 or Matthew 6: 33-34 or maybe even an empathic reference to Romans 7:15, I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. Within pastoral conversation there is usually acknowledgement that life is more than good choice or bad choice, but how to live in and among the circumstances, all things considered.
Choices are more than the decision I make. Although decision-making is an important life skill, it is also important to see choices in context of others' choices or life circumstance. I think I am learning this by osmosis as I walk in the park or spend time in quarantine with family members in my house. Other people's choices have an impact on us. It behooves us to recognize and accept others for the choices they are making, very likely impacted by whatever circumstance they are in.
As a Christian I continue to appreciate my faith community, the Anabaptists, who emphasize that faith is best practiced in community of believers. "No man is an island", said a trappist theologian Thomas Merton (in 1955, obviously before inclusive language was in vogue 😏). It is more than the personal yin yang, good or bad, happy or sad. Oh, and it's not just about me - a lesson which desperately needs learning by many in today's modern individualistic society.
So, my walks these days require hospitality to fellow walkers dealing with circumstances in their particular situations, AND ALSO realize it's best if we all do what must be done. It is about all of us! Get some exercise and keep at least two meters apart y'all.
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