Sunday Morning Musing: What Day Is It?

First, a joyous update:  Our grandson, Finnley Dylan Martin, did indeed make his entrance into the world last Monday.  Weighing in at 8lbs, 8oz., he looked so much like his daddy did as a newborn that my heart did flip flops.  Everyone is happy and healthy and his big sister is over the moon with delight at his arrival.  Their dog is still with us, so the verdict is still out on how she’ll feel about a second small human in the household.

Second, an aggravating update:  After meeting Finnley in the hospital, I started to feel a tickle in my throat a day later.  Coincidentally I also had a physical scheduled that day, and I mentioned it to my doctor (who is awesome, but when did they get to be so young?) and she noted that a lot of stuff is going around.  Then she gave me my pneumonia vaccine.  The next day, I started to fade fast and by Friday I felt bad enough to get myself to urgent care.  I’ll spare you the gory details, but apparently this is going around.  My favorite question at both medical visits was “Are you around a lot of people?”  It’s time, apparently, to be careful again out there, folks….wash our hands and wear a mask if we are at high risk, please. 

So, I’m writing this on Sunday morning, when I would usually be at work.  But I have no voice, which would be a problem in my vocation.  The good news is, I’m on day two of no fever and I have stopped wheezing and no longer feel like I was hit by a semi-truck.  I might even get dressed today!

The hard news in this is that I haven’t seen Finn again, except on FaceTime.  Of course, no way was I going to expose him to this.  And he won’t remember that I wasn’t there after the hospital.  Still. 

Other than that, what’s been going on in the world? 

What a sh*t show. It would almost be hard to believe, except it isn’t. 

I remember that after my divorce, twenty years ago, I said to my therapist that I was never marrying again.  Because, I noted, with marriage came the possibility of divorce and I was certain I could not survive another such season.  Very matter of fact-ly she said:  “But of course you’d survive.  You’ve survived this one and so you have proof of your capacity to not only survive, but do it with brilliance and self respect”. (I may have added the brilliance part in my re-telling of this story, but it was something like that.)

This political season feels like just such a season.  We know we can get through it.  And we will.  And this time, we know we will have to be a bit more, how shall I say this…..intentional, and perhaps a bit less, obvious.  Oh, there are still going to be people who must publicly speak truth to power (you GO Bishop Budde!) and the lawmakers in the states are going to have to push-push-push (YOU go, Washington State Attorney General Nick Brown!) and in the meantime…

In the meantime, we have learned that our outrage, though entirely justified, wasn’t enough to quell the fear that comes when the alt-right feels the threat of their power being diminished. So, get to work underneath the water people.  You know what I mean.  Goodness is going to need to duck just beneath the surface to work most effectively in the world right now.  And we’ll still work….maybe even harder than ever.  There are lives depending on it.

And there will still be necessary voices in the public square calling out the injustice.  But to be effective, we are going to have to borrow a page from another playbook.  We are going to have to build up our networks strategically and with determination.  And, we can’t overplay our hand any longer.

I’ll return to work this week to figure out how to keep everyone who comes into our building safe.  Unless they are intending harm, our faith community remains a safe place where all are welcome to worship, service, and love.   And I’ll return to work this week with a renewed reminder that the love of God in Christ compels us to this work even when, especially when, the powers and principalities of evil are in charge. 

And I’ll do that after I go see that baby tomorrow.  We are overdue for a snuggle.