Hey everyone! I’m back! Well, I’m back for this week, at least. I had no real intention of taking two months away from this space, but here we are, two months later. Oh well. I have had thoughts and ideas and feelings swirling around in my brain, and such a barrage of information being thrown at me, as we all have, so I couldn’t get my thoughts together enough to even write them down. I’ve heard that creativity comes often from boredom, and while I haven’t been bored in quarantine necessarily, I have had a lot of creativity that I haven’t been able to order, if that makes sense – I had (have) so many things I want to say and do and create that I didn’t even know where to start. And part of the reason for that is comparison, because I keep seeing what others are doing these days, and how they are responding to these weird and stressful times, and for several weeks I just felt like I couldn’t compete with that, like I couldn’t say anything that hasn’t already been said.
Yesterday though, while I was scrubbing the shower (yes, I’ve reached the level of quarantine where I can’t even put off cleaning the shower) it occured to me that what I have to say is important even if someone else says the same thing better. Does that make sense? Maybe not – I haven’t had a heck of a lot of social contact these days so my conversational and point-making skills are probably slipping. What I mean is, God gave me a voice and thoughts and ideas, just like He gave you, and if I’m feeling a tug to share those thoughts, I should probably do it already. So here we are.
I think it’s probably been somewhat difficult for most of us to see the good in the days we’re living right now. We have so many things to think about and worry about that the good things can become drowned out by all the noise. True joy is found in Christ and in knowing that we are loved by God, and those things don’t change based on our circumstances in this life. With the state of the world today, and particularly the state of our country, it’s easy to become completely overwhelmed and discouraged. It doesn’t help that for weeks we couldn’t receive the sacraments, and in these times, we need them more than ever. But in all of the suffering, and all of the fear and unrest around us, the one thing we can be absolutely sure of is that God loves us.
I know that saying we’re loved by God doesn’t always make everyone feel better. But if we could only grasp, in our humanness, what that really means, I don’t think anything else would ever bother us again. God, the creator of the universe, Who existed from all eternity, loves US. Out of all the things He created He chose to give us immortal souls and free wills and the ability to love Him back. In all the times we’ve turned our backs on Him, He’s always waited for us to come running back and we’ve always been welcomed with open arms. God loves us. And He created every single one of us and placed us on Earth at this particular moment in time because our lives are important and necessary to His plan for the world and salvation. People, we are living through these sufferings right now because it’s necessary that we be part of the world today. God needs you and me, and our own unique gifts and talents, to serve a purpose right now, in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic, because we have parts to play in the way all of this plays out.
When I realized those things during my shower cleaning meditations, it was like a little light bulb flipped on in my brain and in my heart. Suddenly I stopped thinking, “Why us? Why now? Why is this happening at all?” Instead I started to think about the fact that we are important to this time in history, and our existence right now is necessary for God’s plan. That brings me a lot of peace, and a lot of joy, because it was a really important reminder to me that God does have a plan, and that His plans are always for our good. I don’t understand why bad things happen in the world but I do understand that God orders all things for good, and He will not abandon us right now. He has not abandoned us even for a moment. And that’s where my joy comes from. That’s where I find peace and comfort even in the midst of suffering.
I know these days are hard. I know that so many are suffering for so, so many reasons right now, but I also know that God never lets us suffer in vain and He can always turn our sorrows to joy. It’s not easy, and it’s not fun, but if we allow Him to, God will show us His joy no matter what our lives look like at this moment. We were literally born to live in these days, these hard, scary, beautiful days. Because the world needs every single one of us in it, right here, right now. I’m hoping and praying daily that our world returns to some sort of normalcy soon, and I don’t mean masks and standing six feet apart from each other forever, because that’s not how humans were created to live; but I digress. Until that time comes I hope that we can find joy in the truth that God hasn’t walked away from us, that He loves us, and we are His children. Even if our only role to play in all this going on is to offer prayers for each other, and to extend love and kindness, I’m fairly certain we will each, in our own small ways, change the world. I’m praying for y’all! ❤
