ok,  confession first, then explanation.  I am a closet claustrophobic.  That’s right, it’s true.  I hide it well, I take the elevator (and hold my breath) but I don’t like feeling hemmed in.  What does this have to do with COVID-19?, you ask.

Well, with each new restriction imposed in my state, I feel an increased sense of the walls closing in.  (metaphorically, of course) but the feeling is real, nonetheless. And the restrictions do limit our movement.  There are restrictions on travel and on work and on where one can and can’t go.  As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, further restrictions just went into effect, when I thought things couldn’t get any more restrictive.

This is a claustrophobic’s worst nightmare.  A nightmare which only got worse when I opened the blinds this morning and saw nothing – not the house across the street nor the trees behind my house – I saw nothing- the world had disappeared into a thick blanket of fog, making my self isolation complete.  The fog carried with it a feeling of true isolation.

So here I am in this furnace (trial) all alone and yet not alone.  There is a wonderful truth I want to share with you all, dear readers.  It is revealed in Daniel 3:24-25.  “Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisers, ‘Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire?’ They replied, ‘Certainly, O king.’  He said, ‘Look!  I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.’ ”

Now a little backstory here.  These are Daniel’s three friends that the king had ordered thrown into a blazing furnace, heated seven times hotter than normal. The king was having them killed in this very public way because they had refused to worship an image of gold he had commanded them to worship.

But notice something surprising.  We are told the three men were tied up before being thrown into the furnace.  “He ordered the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual and commanded some of the strongest soldiers in his army to tie up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace.” (Daniel 3:19-20)

This story has a happy ending in that all three survive their ordeal, their time spent in the furnace without so much as a trace of ill effect.  “They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.”  (Daniel 3:27)  But that is not the surprising part.

What is unexpected is that while they were still in the furnace, they were described by the king who was watching them as “unbound and unharmed”, and as “walking around.”  And the other significant thing is that they were not alone in their furnace, there was a fourth “like a son of the gods” walking with them in their fiery furnace.

I always thought I would not be unbound and unharmed until I was through with my trial and safely past it.  But the experience of these three men, reminds me that I can be unbound, (free) and unharmed (safe) while still in my trial.  Daniel’s friends were bound before they even entered the furnace.   But they were set free in the furnace, not after it.

Who could imagine that our trials are able to free us from whatever has us bound, whatever has been holding us hostage, without our even being aware of it?  As my circumstances become more restrictive daily, I realize I am unbound, nevertheless. I am free to choose my response to the circumstances in which I now find myself.

I am free to reach out to others, to offer solace and support – I am free to worship, to pray, to write, to phone a friend, to find new ways to connect with those I cannot see face to face.  I am free to choose how I will spend this time; in fear or in faith, in despair or in hope, in panic or in peace, in seeking self or in seeking God.  I am free to choose.

The theme of COVID-19 is isolation.  The revelation of the furnace is that I am not in the furnace alone.  My God is right there, walking around beside me, every step of the way.  It is His presence that makes all the difference.  His presence brings the comfort, the peace, and the hope necessary to endure the furnace and to survive it.  His presence will see me through.  In the meantime, I am already unbound and unharmed because of my Heavenly Father’s presence abiding with me, even in this furnace.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”   (Psalm 139:7-10)

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

hard to believe it has been barely more than a week ago that I started this “Corona – true confessions” series of posts.  Seems more like another lifetime ago to me and I’m guessing that is true for many of you as well.  More changes were announced last night and today in my state.  I thought everything was already as shut down as possible, but I must have been wrong.  Further travel restrictions and additional work shut downs were announced.

My new friends, the newscasters, are telling me this is the “new normal.”  Well, it may be new but there is nothing “normal” about this new way of life that we are experiencing right now.  We are social creatures by design.  God created us for relationship with Him and for relationship with each other.  That’s probably why, when asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus answered with these words,

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  . . .   And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”  (Matthew 22:37-39)

We do not thrive in isolation but in community with others.  Isolation breeds fear and fear breeds panic.  We are seeing the evidence of fear and panic in the empty store shelves, which have been laid bare by panic buying.

And so this journey continues for each of us individually and for us collectively, as we deal with this unexpected virus.  This one virus, affecting us all in so many ways, some different and some the same.  For once, we all have a common enemy, COVID-19.  We are all impacted by COVID-19, whether we actually contract this virus or not.

Never have I been more aware of how interconnected we all are, nationally and globally.  Our battle is the same battle that other countries are fighting right now as well, racing against time to find causes of and cures for and ways to curb the spread of COVID-19.

This virus appears to be as hazardous to the uninfected as it is to the infected. Many are losing their jobs, incomes, homes, businesses, health, loved ones  . . .  we all have lost what we perceived as control over our daily lives, we have lost the ability to plan our course of action and then carry it out; trips/vacations planned long ago are now cancelled, weddings postponed, conventions, business meetings, graduations, olympics, reunions – all cancelled or put on hold.

I wonder if even more than the “big” events and plans that we had made, which are now being cancelled, it is something less obvious that we have lost and are now struggling to replace.

I think it is the day to day fabric of our everyday life routines that has been ripped open and torn away from us, leaving us feeling exposed and unprotected in this new environment we do not recognize.  We long for the familiar comfort our daily routines provided us, whether it was our weekly worship at church or our daily workout at the gym or the predictability of our workday.  With our work, worship, sports, travel and entertainments pulled out from under us, on what do we stand? We find ourselves asking, who are we?

I am reminded that “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  (Isaiah 16:9)

Our plans may have been taken from us, (all the plans I had are certainly gone or on indefinite hold) but what we don’t have to lose is hope. No act of legislation has the power to take hope away from us.  Hope is a product of faith. And it is faith that sustains when circumstances can’t and don’t sustain us.  “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1)

We have God’s promise from his word that He will never leave us nor forsake us. We have this assurance from Psalm 23:4-5, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.”

tomorrow I will continue true confessions as I revisit “Life in the Furnace”.  We are all in this same furnace together at the moment, which is ironic because even in the furnace, right when we need each other more than ever, we are supposed to be practicing our “social distancing.”

is the cure worse than the illness?    time will tell –

well, here comes my mailperson,  got to go!  (I will keep my distance, promise!)

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”    (Psalm 33:20-22)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

my self isolation continues, as do my confessions.  today’s confession no less shocking than those that have been revealed previously, but quite unexpected, nonetheless.  Of the two things I am about to reveal, I don’t know which is the more surprising – that I was able to find and to purchase toilet paper at long last or that the toilet paper I purchased – are you ready for this? – was not my usual, preferred brand!   (I told you it was shocking!)

There were not the infinite number of choices to be made as when one normally buys toilet paper because there was just a small, limited supply.  I took my allotted one pack and was deliriously happy with my purchase.  Nevermind that it wasn’t my brand, or ultra-soft or super-strong or fifteen ply or mega rolls or a certain scent or  . . .   it was toilet paper.  (you know that is one stock that should be soaring)

so, I confess, I am no longer a discerning shopper.  I will be happy with what is available and count my blessings.

next I must confess that I had no idea Ecclesiastes chapter three had a verse that spoke literally of what we are experiencing at this time.  A friend mentioned it to me and sure enough there it was in verse five.  ”  . . . a time to embrace and a time to refrain,”.

That is what we must do now, refrain from embracing.  We are practicing embracing’s opposite, social distancing.  Did God foresee this time in our history? Of course He did.  And so Ecclesiastes 3:5 is applicable to our lives today.  How incredible.  The God who knows the beginning from the end is in the midst of our circumstances right now, today.

Commerce, trade, travel are all coming to a standstill, forcing us to stand still.  We now have no where to go and no way to get there.  All vacation spots and travel destinations are shut down.  We are being stopped in our tracks. Our once overcrowded calendars are now empty.

I know my once full calendar is now empty.  Like Saul on the road to Damascus, I have been stopped in my tracks.  That’s what it took to get Saul’s attention.  God allowed Saul to become blind so that he could see clearly who Jesus really was. That revelation changed Saul’s name to Paul.  That revelation changed his life forever.

God is still in the life changing, life rescuing, life redeeming, life giving business.  It seems this time, rather than an individual, the whole world has been stopped in its tracks.  Every tribe, every tongue, every people and every nation is being impacted by the effects of COVID-19.

As I am stopped in my tracks, I look up and I listen.  “I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”   (Psalm 121:1-2)

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”   (Psalm 46:10)

I hear His invitation to me and to everyone, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30)

Rest sounds good to me, especially in the midst of this Corona crisis.  And something else I receive as I am “being still”,  His peace.

“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”  (John 14:27)

Today I am reminded of Joseph’s words to his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “As far as I am concerned, God turned into good what you meant for evil, for He brought me to this high position I have today so that I could save the lives of many people.”

Sovereign God, bring about Your eternally good purposes from the chaos and confusion that COVID-19 has caused us.

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

our world is changing so fast right now, hour by hour even, rather than day by day – every news conference brings more information and more changes to our daily lives based on that ever changing, ever evolving information.

so I guess my first true confession for today should be – I can’t keep up!  I have always said, new information changes things.  When we learn something new we have to be ready to change our behavior in light of the new information.  Most of us are trying.  It’s just changing so fast, it’s hard to keep up.

We are in a race where the finish line is unknown at this time and it is easy to grow weary – but we have to keep running.  As I watch the news, I find myself deeply grateful for all those in healthcare and hospitals and those in shipping and delivery who are showing up to work each day, taking care of the ill and keeping supplies of food, medical supplies and yes, even toilet paper on our store shelves.

Thank you.  It is hard to be at home when so many are working harder than ever during this crisis.  But we each have a part to play, and my staying home may help lighten the healthcare load because I won’t become ill.

next true confession – I am now officially a germophobe.  Actually, germophobe is now the new cool.  Washing our hands is now an act of patriotism.  The most effective, high powered weapons of this war are soap, water, hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes, and masks.  (sorry toilet paper, you are not on the list, even though all of America mistakenly thought you were)

The top secret military maneuvers of this war are self isolation and social distancing.  We are told that these maneuvers, if practiced by everyone, will eventually defeat the enemy (corona virus) and win the war.  I, myself, am becoming highly skilled in these two maneuvers and practice them daily and diligently.

This daily diligence requires much dedication but pays big dividends.  As you know my new best friends are now telemarketers and newscasters.  I would say I need to get out more, but as you all know, that is simply not an option at this time.

so, my final true confession for today, dear readers, is simply this – I am lonely. (they don’t call it isolation for nothing, in prison it’s called solitary and it’s a punishment)  But now it is an act of patriotic service to our country and to our neighbors and coworkers.  We are all sacrificing in different ways.  As the President said, “we are in this together.”

Amidst all these changes, occurring faster than we can adjust to them, we need to remember what never changes.

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  (Hebrews 13:8)

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”  (Matthew 24:35)

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”  (James 1:17)

“He remembers His covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations,”   (Psalm 105:8)

Our Creator God never changes, love lasts, kindness conquers, compassion and self sacrifice show up stronger than ever in times like these.  It is when everything else is stripped away from our daily lives, that the presence of God with us, which has been there all along, is now revealed more clearly, and we experience His presence as if for the first time.

sincerely,      Grace Day

true confessions continue from this self isolator – today’s confession so shocking I’m ashamed to share it, but truth must be revealed, so I hereby admit to you all, – I chatted at length with a telemarketer/phone solicitor.

Now I know what you must be thinking, these calls are to be avoided at all costs. And when we do receive them, we get off the phone as quickly as possible, even if rudeness is required to extricate ourselves from the unwanted sales call.  (and besides that, I’m on the do not call list)

So imagine “Carole’s” (not her real name) surprise when I engaged her in conversation, inquired after her and the health of her family, etc.   . . .  this is what isolation does to a person – it clouds our judgement.

This could be a golden opportunity for telemarketers/phone solicitors, though. People are now home and willing to talk to anyone who will listen.  I wonder if these solicitors are working from home?  at least they still have jobs and I don’t begrudge them that.  I am happy for them.  Many of us are not so fortunate.

The call I most recently received, (now that I am answering all calls, not just the ones I can identify)  you will not believe.  You cannot make this stuff up.  A car salesman just called me.  He had sold me my current car more than five years ago. He called to ask if there was anything he could do for me!  I almost said, “yes, could you get a hold of some toilet paper and disinfectant wipes for me please? and have them delivered.”

But I held my tongue thinking that was probably not the reason he had called, but rather to assist me with my most urgent automotive needs.  Did he really think I was in the market for a new car at the moment?  Besides, I have been instructed to stay home.  I can’t be out car shopping, especially when I have no income for the foreseeable future. Certainly he must know that the economy has crashed and people are out of work. But I get that he too needs to make a living.  I was kind, thanked him for the inquiry and inquired after his and his family’s health.  He meant no harm.

Another thing I must confess is that I find myself waiting for the mail delivery, so that I can engage the postal worker in conversation.  (from a safe distance of course)  and I am considering calling for insurance quotes on car insurance.  I bet those nice people would be fun to talk with as they help me save money on my car insurance .  That could be a win/win.

My final confession for today will be this, and it is another shocker.  My cat is tired of me.  She is tired of me being home all the time because she is used to me going to work every day and often to evening engagements as well.  I am infringing on her space and her alone time she tells me, as she is used to having the house all to herself.  This is very hurtful behavior on her part.  She is clearly ready for me to return to work.

Amid these confessions are many blessing raining down on me daily.  Truth is, I am not isolated, I am not alone.

“because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ ”  (Hebrews 13:5)

My Heavenly Father is with me.  “Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Where can I flee from Your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast.”  (Psalm 139:7-10)

in truth, I am not isolated, I am not alone.

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.   . . .  Do not be afraid, for I am with you;”  (Isaiah 41:13 & Isaiah 43:5)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

“Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.  The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day.    . . .  and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.  When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.  When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was.   . . . The people of Israel called the bread manna.  It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey.”  (Exodus 16:4,13-15, & 31)

Manna and mercy, what do they have in common?  Well, they are both new every morning.  “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His mercies never fail.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

ok, not so much the literal manna anymore but there was a time in the history of God’s people when it was manna that sustained them.  Actually the manna was God’s mercy to His people and it was new every morning.

Manna – that mysterious, miraculous, magically appearing food, called the bread of heaven.    This miracle food, manna, appeared new every morning for the Israelites as they traveled through the desert on their way to their promised land. In fact, “The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan.”  (Exodus 16:35)

While manna certainly was a welcome source of sustenance and essential for their very survival, it must have been rather hard for the Israelites to live on for those forty years.  Why?  Well, not for the reason you might be thinking – boredom. No, I think it was hard for them because they had no control over the manna.  They didn’t plant it, grow it, harvest it, thresh it, or produce it in any way.  They couldn’t take credit for it.  They had to depend on God to supply their manna each morning.

Do you suppose every evening as they lay down to sleep, they wondered if the manna would be there in the morning when they woke up and worried that it might not be?  There were no guarantees.  What if God forgot?  What if He was angry with them?  Would He refuse to feed them?  We know the end of their story, but they didn’t know how it would end back then.  Their story wasn’t done, it was in the process of being written.

Now remember, God had said He would send manna every morning and He had instructed the people to gather only what they needed for that day.  They had His promise, but because they doubted Him, they disobeyed Him and gathered more than their need required.

They obviously didn’t trust the character of their God or they would not have wondered, worried or wrongfully gathered in excess of their need.  They would have known “He is faithful, even when we are unfaithful.”  (2 Timothy 2:13)         They would have known He is good and He is full of lovingkindness and mercy.  He would not let them starve there in the desert wilderness.

They gathered more manna than they needed for that day because they weren’t fully convinced that manna would appear again the next morning.  They didn’t know for sure.  They didn’t believe.  They doubted God.  They gathered too much manna and ”  . . .  they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell.”  (Exodus 16:20)

God told the Israelites not to gather extra manna, but they disobeyed His instruction and found out the hard way why He had told them not to gather an excess, but just what they needed for that day.  (I wonder if this would apply to excess toilet paper as well?  just wondering . . . )

How could the Israelites doubt God after seeing the Red Sea split in two?  But they did.  Do you think twenty years in to this journey, having had manna every morning without fail, that they still lay awake at night wondering if there would be manna in the morning and worrying  that today might have been their last taste of manna?

Some of the Israelites complained, saying they had been better off in Egypt.  Even though they had been slaves in Egypt, they said they ate better there than they did now in the desert.  Did they trust Pharaoh and their Egyptian taskmasters more than they trusted their God?  –  the same God who had so recently parted the Red Sea for them, providing them safe passage and escape from their captors, the Egyptians.

Was it that they trusted Pharaoh more than God or just that they were more comfortable in their role as slaves than they were in this new desert, wilderness experience?  Now everything familiar to them was gone.  They had a decision to make.  Would they trust God or attempt to survive on their own?

We are like the Israelites in the desert right now.  So many things that are familiar to us and a part of our daily routine are gone; things have been taken away from us one by one, leaving us wondering what next?  With no jobs to go to, no churches open, no gyms, no restaurants in which to meet a friend, no sports to watch on TV, no visits with others, in order to keep them safe, we are able to get a glimpse or maybe even a clearer look at who we are when everything is stripped away.

This is not a complaint, but an acknowledgement of everyone’s current reality and the opportunity it gives us to decide in whom or in what will we trust?  The Israelites didn’t have much of a choice, they couldn’t make their own manna and therefore they experienced the mercy of God as He provided it to them new every morning.

I may have thought myself to be self-reliant, until the things I counted on were taken from me.  I am reminded that ”  . . .  in Him we(I) live and move and have our(my) being.”  (Acts 17:28)

I will say along with David, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.  They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.”  (Psalm 20:7-8)

I don’t need to lay awake wondering if there will be manna in the morning, if the manna will fall to earth while I sleep.  Forty years is a pretty good track record. And God brought them safely into the promised land, as He had promised to do.

That same God is sovereign over today’s world events, just as He has always been. I can trust Him.  I don’t need to buy toilet paper in bulk.  That’s the message of the manna – God’s mercies are new every morning!  He will give me my daily bread – new every day.  That’s all He asked of the Israelites, to gather just one day’s provision.  Then trust Him again for tomorrow.

That’s all He asks of me, to trust Him with my needs for today.  And that’s how I will run this race without a finish line in these uncertain times.  I will run it by trusting my Heavenly Father for each day – one day at a time, one step at a time, one hour at a time, if necessary.   Because He knows where the finish line lies.

“I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come.  I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.”  (Isaiah 46:10)

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  (Isaiah 40:31)

sincerely,      Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well true confessions of this self isolator continue, so here goes  . . .

yesterday I played pickleball – today my gym is closed

yesterday seemed a normal day at the gym, everyone working out, wiping down, washing up after every workout – that’s what gym people do – it’s gym etiquette and it has been in place long before this particular corona virus made its appearance on the international scene

so today I have tennis elbow, but now there will be plenty of time for it to heal

I am thinking that for some households this forced “isolation” probably feels like just the opposite.  For households with multiple members, I bet they are all on different schedules normally, passing each other coming and going, but rarely all home at the same time for any length of time.  And now they are all home together and no one is leaving.  Isolation might be sounding pretty good to some of them right about now, probably in direct proportion to number of people divided by the square footage of the home.

However, for those that live alone, this truly is isolation. (cats don’t count as good company, dogs yes, but not cats – sorry cats)  When newscasters are your new best friends, even though they bring only bad news, something is not right.

Last night’s news brought announcements of more closings; the closings of bars, restaurants, gyms and movie theaters.  Something else though, was even more noteworthy I thought, something much more unsettling.  They said warm weather would have no positive effect on this virus, that this “pandemic” could continue on into the summer.

What is significant about this?  Well, we have called it flu season all these years for a reason, it has a beginning and an end.  When schools here first announced their closures, they did so while saying that they would reopen after spring break – which would mean three weeks.

There was an end in sight – a way to plan.  I feel like I am in a race and they keep moving the finish line.  I knew this wasn’t a sprint but I never signed up for a marathon.  But even marathons have finish lines.  And because they do, I can know how to pace myself.  So how do I run a race without a finish line?  How can I know how to pace myself without a finish line?

”  . . .   Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14)

One step at a time.  One day at a time.  One hour at a time if necessary.  I know the One who knows where the finish line lies.  Tomorrow will be the right day for a post I was writing on Manna but didn’t post yet.  Now I know why.  It’s a message I need to hear again and again.  I need to hear it now.

and so my dear readers,  “Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9)

“We wait in hope for the Lord; He is our help and our shield.  In Him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in His holy name.  May Your unfailing love rest upon us, O Lord, even as we put our hope in You.”    (Psalm 33:20-22)

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

what should I be doing while in self isolation?  laundry?   no need – I can live in my pjs or sweats now, so I don’t have a lot of laundry to do.

shower and wash hair?    no need  —  no one will know, no one is going to see me.

the nice people on TV news suggest if I am bored I should play board games – I appreciate the pun – however my cat refuses to play monopoly with me or any other board game for that matter – she doesn’t want me to monopolize her time. She is on a tight schedule of eating, napping in the sun, bird watching out the window and back to eating again,  she really has no time for me  . . .

this self isolation (which I thought initially was for people having symptoms of flu, but now I guess is for everyone regardless?) gives me time to ponder many things

chief among them is today’s question, “why toilet paper?”  I am wondering why toilet paper (along with other items of course), but toilet paper is what those nice news people have been reporting for about a week now, is gone off of store shelves everywhere and very hard to find.  I guess there have been long lines and fights over toilet paper.  Toilet paper is like the newest I-phone but not.  People don’t hoard phones, they become obsolete way too quickly.

Now I understand hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes being in greater demand than usual, as they are directly related to the remedy, helping to prevent the spread of this disease (as with many influenzas, colds, etc.) by helping us to keep our hands clean and our surfaces clean.

But I haven’t quite figured out what new and different role toilet paper now plays in the fight against this new virus, that it would suddenly be in such demand, even more than food.

Toilet paper is both soft and non perishable (thus its appeal?) but I think it’s about control.  We feel out of control. We can’t control our circumstances so we buy toilet paper.  Maybe it makes us feel more prepared?  And feeling prepared makes us feel like we are more in control than we actually are.  But perception is everything.  So if we believe we are doing our part to fight this coronavirus by stockpiling, hoarding, rounding up all available toilet paper, then we will continue to do this because it helps us to cope with the uncertainty that surrounds us.

Toilet paper has become the new comfort, feel better purchase.  I personally prefer comfort food to comfort toilet paper.  A wise someone I know stocked up on brownie mix, ice cream, sweet rolls  – that’s my kind of impending disaster response.  I would add mac & cheese and Stacy’s pita chips and I would be one prepared self isolator.

I haven’t turned on the TV at all so far today.  I feel like I need a break from the information overload and constant contradictory numbers and news concerning the spread of COVID-19.  Everytime something else gets shut down I feel a little more isolated and a little more hemmed in.

But there is One who hems me in – in a way that comforts and protects me.  “You hem me in – behind and before;  You have laid Your hand upon me.”  (Psalm 139:5)

Instead of watching TV, today I am reading these words from Psalm 91:2-6, “I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’  Surely He will save you from the fowler’s  snare and from the deadly pestilence.  He will cover you with His feathers,  . . .   You will not fear the terror of night,  . . .  nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”

those words comfort me more than stockpiles of toilet paper ever could.  I will rest in those living words today   . . . .  while the Corona Chronicles continue  . . .

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

okay, so the first true confession is this – I am not (nor have I ever been) a self isolator.   I am not self isolating.  Everything is closed.  I have no where to go!  The school where I work is closed.  My church is closed.  Libraries are closed.  Museums are closed.  All sporting events are closed.  This is not self isolation, this is forced isolation or isolation by default.

next true confession – I am a Hoosier (that’s not the confession part).  We love our basketball.  March Madness has been cancelled and I am MAD!

Now before you go accusing me of being politically incorrect and of not caring about protecting the aged etc., let me just say – I am the aged!  This also means that my friends would be “the aged.”   So yes, I care about my friends and myself.  But don’t take away my basketball!

my next true confession – I did not stock up on toilet paper when everyone else was doing this.  (I did not get the memo)  So I have to hope this imposed isolation that they are calling self isolation won’t last long.

my final true confession for now is this – I feel more panic over store shelves being empty than I do over the elusive corona virus, which we are told is lurking everywhere (we just can’t see it).  I guess that’s because I don’t know anyone that has the corona virus, nor does anyone I know, know anyone who  has it.  (but it is everywhere)

and that’s the thing – the enemy you can’t see is always more powerful in your imagination than the enemy you can see and deal with.  The unknown produces more fear than the known.  (I guess that’s why they keep telling us, “we really don’t know about this corona (flu) virus”,  thereby keeping us on edge as they continue to add more personal restrictions each day)

For now I will follow Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 22:21 where He tells me to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”

So if you need me I will be at home self isolating, practicing my social distancing, rendering, writing, praying – but not fearing, I refuse to do that  –

But I will “Show proper respect to everyone:  Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”   (1 Peter 2:17)

When I fear God I don’t need to fear anything or anyone else.  Indeed, “The fear of the Lord leads to life:  Then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”  (Proverbs 19:23)

sincerely,     Grace Day

 

 

 

 

 

Fear is running far more rampant right now than the COVID-19 virus.  Fear is doing far more damage to far more people than this current virus ever could do.

Most people recover from a virus, this one included.  But fear seems to linger, to take hold, to take over and move in.  Long after the virus is gone, the fear remains. Some people never recover and fear becomes a way of life.

We are being told by our media to self isolate and to practice social distancing. Supposedly, this will protect us from the dreaded COVID-19 virus. But it will not protect us from fear.  Unlike a virus, fear doesn’t require physical proximity to perpetuate its insidious spread.  And ironically, this very distancing and isolating of ourselves from others, which we are told to do, is what allows our fear to grow in us unchecked until it is out of control and has taken over our every thought and our everyday life.

Fear becomes the new normal, dictating and directing everything we do, every decision we make.  More contagious than any virus and more deadly,  fear spreads more quickly, takes hold more strongly  and moves in more permanently than any virus ever could.  You can self isolate from a virus, but you can’t self isolate from fear.  Isolation fuels fear – feeding it with lies, misinformation, deceptions, and distortions of reality and of the truth.

The antidote to fear is truth.  fear paralyses – fear enslaves  –  truth sets free.

Fear is more contagious than any virus precisely because you don’t need physical contact to contract it.  Fear knows no physical limitations, it has no natural boundaries to cross.  Unlike a virus, bound by physical laws of nature, fear travels unhindered across time and through space.

We could say that fear is an air born disease.  It is transmitted through the air, the air waves –  watching TV, listening to the radio, reading email, twitter, Facebook, newspaper, conversation etc., – we can feel that “fear is in the air” –   fear becomes inescapeable when we are bombarded  with fear messages everywhere we turn.

Fear has free access to all of us,  all that is needed is for us to open the door and let her in,  then continue to feed her

our media is all too eager to be fear’s food supplier

and they are willing and able to provide a plentiful supply of fuel to feed our fear.

it is up to each one of us to protect ourselves from our enemy – Fear.

We are not fighting a virus,  we are fighting fear.

there will always be something we are being told by others that we should be afraid of and therefore alter our actions accordingly.  I, for one, refuse to live in fear.

I know that I don’t have control over world events nor over the circumstances that surround me.  But I know the One who does.  I know the One who is sovereign over all things in heaven and on earth.  And He has said that I am more than a conqueror, I don’t need to live in fear.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”   (Romans 8:37-39)

“Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”   (Joshua 1:9)

“You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal.”  (Isaiah 26:3-4)

When I am faced with fear, fear demanding entrance into my life, I want to remember these words from Romans 8:15, “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship.  And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ ”     and I want to remember that at all times I can –

”  . . .   know and rely on the love God has for us (me).  God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.    . . .    There is no fear in love.  But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”    (1 John 4:16, 18)

Franklin D. Roosevelt was correct when he stated, “First of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is – fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.”

it is time for our retreat to end and for fear to find a new home – she is not welcome here!

sincerely,      Grace Day