I don’t want to talk about the Covid-19 elephant in our rooms. I’m tired of all the attention that creature is getting. What I want to talk about today is choices. We make a million choices every day, some with intention, some as habit or routine, some after long consideration, some on the spur of the moment. Let me suggest that since we currently have fewer options, maybe we should slow down and become more intentional and more aware of the choices we have and the choices we make.
I went to the store this morning. I wasn’t eager to go, but I needed printer paper. (No, not for that! I really needed it for the computer, hopefully it won’t come to using it in creative ways!) I picked up a few other things. Here’s what I noticed: many people being especially kind to others and smiling more, saying good morning, meeting eyes even while keeping a safe distance. Another group of people (thankfully a smaller group) who grumbled at the lack on the shelves, who kept their eyes down, who seemed afraid to interact or smile. I’ve noticed the same divisions on social media and in my remote interactions with others. Most people are looking on the bright side, sharing jokes, posting pictures of flowers and beautiful things. Others, though, are venomous and noxious. Griping about the stress of spending time with their own children, seeing and sharing only the gloom, spreading fear and anger, criticizing authorities, blaming, judging, and accusing. In honesty, yesterday I made the choice of letting the negative people in my sphere of life weigh me down. By the end of the day, I felt anxious and didn’t sleep very well. That gloom in my head persisted this morning.
Until. I made the choice to notice that the sun is shining and the sky is beautiful. I chose to smile and greet people at the store. I chose to look up and see the kindness in the clerk’s eyes and tease with the couple in front of me who had snagged the last four-pack of toilet paper. So, I urge you, if quarantine is making you antsy, look around. God, while we don’t always understand His choices, is in control and loving us. Our isolation and the threat of ‘the elephant’ are not the beginning of a new and permanent normal for our lives. THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS. The choice of what you do with this season is completely yours. Be aware, though, I am going to be much more intentional about my own choices, and I will not let those who choose poorly to negatively affect me again.
