The Corona Virus was already spreading when Rick and I were returning from a trip to South Africa. (I hope to tell you more about our visit to that beautiful country soon.) We transited London’s immense Heathrow airport, had a five-hour layover, then caught a long flight to San Francisco, followed by a two-hour ride home during Friday get-out-of-town traffic.
We heard from friends on the cruise ship Grand Princess, still refused (at the time) docking in San Francisco. Though we were greatly concerned for them, they were calm and keeping busy. Barney Cargile is a pastor (Barney’s Bullets online), and his wife, Linda, is one of those people who glows Jesus. Interviewed by newspapers, radio and TV, including Good Morning America and the Today Show – they saw this as an opportunity to share their faith.
I’m a member of an online Christian writers’ loop with members scattered across the country, and we’ve been chatting daily about what’s happening in our areas. Though we’ve all heard of people giving in to panic and flooding stores, most people are handling this emergency situation with dignity, accepting that it is better to err on the side of caution than pretend there isn’t a problem and conduct business as usual.
Many are “social distancing”. As one writer friend pointed out: writers are trained for self-quarantine. But now, we’re all in this situation, and it is disturbing. While many of us work from home, many others are being sent home because of closures. What do we do while we wait for NORMAL to return?
Choose to see this time as a blessing – a period of rest and reflection.
Play with your children
Start reading the books you’ve been piling up, but haven’t had time to read
Write your life story for your family
Talk with and interview your elderly relatives over the phone and write their stories
Watch on-line sermons and listen to praise music
Put old photos in order, or in an album
Take a long drive (gas is as at an all-time low)
Sort and separate your accumulated stuff into marked boxes or piles: trash, giveaway,
pass along to friends or family. Reorganize what you’re keeping.
Get your taxes in order.
Call or email friends and family members and catch up on (good) news
Limit news intake and watch a movie instead. (Skip “Outbreak” and “Contagion”!)
Enjoy time with your spouse (America will probably experience another baby boom nine months after the mandatory shut downs and closures.)
A friend of mine just posted this quote: “It is said Shakespeare wrote King Lear while quarantined because of the plague.”
We’re all in this pandemic together. While waiting it out, let’s use the time to good purpose.