Sunday, March 22nd, 2020
By Katie Sundermeier
Psalm for the Day: Psalm 23
I have been keenly aware that I am holding two very different mindsets together in my heart and in my mind these past days. On the one hand, I am nervous about all that is unfolding before us with COVID-19 and all the ways this is affecting our world. I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about things and grieving losses. On the other hand, I know that this time is uniquely Holy. We are set apart and able to be present with God and with one another in new and life-giving ways.
One of the best things our family has been doing this past week is to have morning devotions together. Jonny, our 17 year old, plays a hymn for us to sing. We’re reading through a Lenten devotional compiled of writings by Henri Nouwen. After the reading, we each take a minute and share one way we connected with the message. We’re giving each other insights into the windows of our souls. Our Lord, the Good Shepherd, meets us in these Holy spaces.
Henri Nouwen wrote, “When we dare to trust that we are never alone but that God is always with us, always cares for us, and always speaks to us, then we can gradually detach ourselves from the voices that make us guilty or anxious and thus allow ourselves to dwell in the present moment.” When we remember that the Lord is our Shepherd and that we have everything we need, we can breathe in God’s perfect peace and strength and comfort knowing that God is with us, today as always.
One final note:
Many people have shown me this beautiful vision written by Kitty O’Meara.
And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently. And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal. And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
I, too, love this vision. Many of us reading this devotional can relate strongly to it and make choices inspired by it, including my family’s newfound daily morning devotions. However, each time I read this, I also am heartbreakingly aware that many cannot stay home. Many do not have a safe home to be in. For those of us who take comfort and inspiration from this vision, and for those of us who confess that the Lord is our Shepherd, may we take action in the ways God calls us to care for those in need.
