Gentle Reader,
I managed to avoid Covid for four years, but it finally got me. Because my body is the way that it is, I was prescribed antivirals that leave me with a taste in my mouth that I can only describe as what it must be like if you’ve sucked on car keys for dinner. Yum.
I did not get as sick as I could have, and for that I am grateful. I attribute that to several factors: the grace of God, the fact the virus is not as deadly as it was in the beginning, and vaccinations. Yes, I’m vaccinated. No, the government can’t hear my thoughts because of that. No, vaccines are not magic silver bullets that prevent you from ever getting sick at all. They just make the disease not as awful, especially for someone like me who needs a factory reset on her immune system.
The fatigue and general fuzziness will hang on for a while. I’m sure of that. I’ll remain congested for probably another week or two, because that’s what I do whenever I get sick. As long as it doesn’t turn into a sinus infection, I’m good.
As I lay on the couch on my sickest, brain-foggiest day, I found myself in some way transported back to the spring of 2020. A horrible, fearful time for the entire world. I don’t know how humanity properly processes collective trauma like that. Maybe we don’t. Maybe we just find ways to move forward. If we want to. I wonder if we want to. This virus that is real and did kill people and left others with chronic illnesses continues to be politicized. Some continue to spread lies and misinformation about it. And the wound just never closes.
I write as a Christian person. I don’t expect someone who isn’t a Christian to have the same morals, values, or perspective on life that I do. And I recognize that there’s room for Christians to disagree on a lot of things. The tent is big. What continues to puzzle me, however, is the fact that we who claim to follow Jesus Christ in so many cases just actively choose to not have compassion. To scream and rant and treat others as enemies when they’re not. I feel sad that we choose to prioritize our own comfort and our “side” rather than caring for others. That’s not what Jesus wants for or from us.
Our lack of forgiveness makes us hate, and our lack of compassion makes us hard-hearted. Pride in our hearts makes us resentful and keeps our memory in a constant whirlwind of passion and self-pity.
– Mother Angelica
Lord, help us to begin to want to allow you to replace our hearts of cold stone with hearts that thrum with your holy love. Help us to repent of our meanness.
GRACE AND PEACE ALONG THE WAY,
MARIE
Image Courtesy of Adrian Swancar