March 17, 2020

HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY. One of my favourite morning prayers is Hymn 410VU: This Day God Give’s Me. It is inspired from the lorica or breastplate of St. Patrick (that is, a prayer of protection).

Woohoo!!  I was checking my rarely used stash of useful items and I have 4 facemasks left from what the walk-in clinic in Nova Scotia gave me when I had a cold and told them I needed to visit my sister in the Moncton Hospital (2 years ago, but I thought they would be a good thing to keep. They are in a closed plastic bag.)👍

Things are happening very quickly in terms of what is and what isn’t open.  The main reasons for the closures is to “flatten the curve”; that is, to keep the number of cases from escalating.  This will not necessarily stop people from getting COVID-19 forever, but it will allow a few essential things to happen:

• keep the health care system from getting overloaded so that they will have enough respirators, testing kits, masks, etc. for patients who need them and for health workers;
• provide a level of protection for the vulnerable; and
• to buy time for re-stocking resources, to develop care protocols specific to this virus, to learn more about the virus, and to develop a vaccine.

In the meantime, limit your listening to news (especially if it is upsetting you) and only listen to reliable news sources; and check the site below on how to reduce your stress/anxiety and keep mentally and physically healthy while limiting your social contacts. Click on the the link for some advice from Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/anxiety-zen/202003/19-ways-support-your-mental-health-during-covid-19

MY TASKS FOR TODAY:

I ordered an headset for my laptop which will be delivered today. When it arrives, I will be ensuring the microphone part works (as my laptop microphone is full of noise that I can’t get rid of).

I have already downloaded Zoom which will allow for face-to-face meetings. I am hoping to begin by continuing first with our Weekly Bible Study, and then go from there. For people to participate, I would send them the link to download the Zoom plug-in, and from there I can set up meeting times and invite them. Using this technology at church is long overdue, but didn’t seem necessary until now. I am looking forward to seeing some of you this way.

IN THE MEANTIME, I am working from home and enjoying the view. Though my apartment is small, it has 4 very large windows and below is the view from one of them. I must admit there isn’t very much traffic for 8:45 am on a Tuesday morning.

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So what will you do with this day? Read a book, start a project, call someone you love, learn something new, or just breathe deeply and know God is with you, in every breath.

A Traditional Celtic Blessing

Deep peace of the running wave to you.
Deep peace of the flowing air to you.
Deep peace of the quiet earth to you.
Deep peace of the shining stars to you.
Deep peace of the infinite peace to you

.gaelic blessingSee also Under a Dark Star by Fiona Macleod.