Dear Friends,
One of the challenges many of us are feeling is the sense of helplessness that there is nothing we can do. It is easy to feel like we are at the whim of our government officials and the daily whiplash of recommendations and advice.
I want to say to you that you are not helpless. There are things you can do. Here are just a few ideas:
Show your Heart
Put paper hearts in your window. It has gone national, but Heart Hunters started right here in Galesburg.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/326431341651785/
https://www.kwqc.com/content/news/Galesburg-woman-at-the-heart-of-worldwide-virtual-scavenger-hunt-569049201.html
Get Connected
The United Way of Knox County has set up the GetCONNECTED site to help organize those interested in volunteering.
https://myforefront.galaxydigital.com/
Go to Work
Are you part of the essential workforce? You can help the community and your family by going to work and doing what you do.
Stay Home
The Governor of Illinois has advised all persons to “shelter-in-place” and avoid going out unless necessary to get food, medical care, or to go to work. You can help your community by staying home and reducing the potential for the spread of the virus.
Check on Your Neighbor
If you know people in high-risk categories: elderly, those with health challenges like cancer, diabetes, immune-suppressed or respiratory issues, etc. Check-in on them to see if they should not going out and offer to pick up groceries or medicine for them.
Connect
Call/FaceTime with people you love to stay connected, but don’t insist on in-person visits. Be creative in how you can connect differently than your normal routine with people. Who can you add to your circle of connection? If you are not personally affected in your health with COVID-19, choose to continue to stay connected with people. Don’t isolate for the sake of isolation, your mental health will thank you for this decision.
Make a Plan
It is easy to feel like one day is the same as the next. Make a plan for what you are going to do today. Then work your plan.
Learn Something New
Many online learning companies are making their courses available for free or significantly reduced. Here is one from N.T. Wright: Faith Working Through Love
But there are many more.
Show Gratitude
As you are out getting groceries, filling your gas tank, going to the doctor, etc. Be gracious to those who are serving you. They have families too. They feel the same anxieties. They are working so you get what you need or stay healthy. They are working to provide for their families like you are.
Do you know a police officer, paramedic, firefighter, doctor, nurse, or cashier? Send them a message: THANK YOU!
Disconnect and Breathe
Disconnect: Take a break from the continuous pandemic news. Turn off the T.V., put your phone down, and get off the computer.
Breathe: Sit in a comfortable chair. Close your eyes and breathe in slowly and deeply through your nose. Hold it and then exhale slowly out of your mouth. Do this for one minute. Have an Apple Watch? You can set it to remind you to stop and breathe throughout the day.
Go Outside: The weather today is sunny and warm in Galesburg. Go outside. Walk around the block or just sit in a chair outside your door. Breath in the fresh air.
Dream
We can be so tempted to want to get life back to normal that we miss the great things we have learned in this time. We have learned to connect with each other in greater and more meaningful ways. We have seen the beauty of creation healed as some industries have paused. If you have not already, look up the videos of the canals in Venice. Here is one. We have learned that “doing church” does not require a building. Dream about how life could be better because of what we have learned through this experience. It will not always be like this.
Do you have other ideas? Please share them.
Pastor Stephen
Giving Credit: The seed of many of these suggestions came from a message Beth Cossin, Pastor at Heritage Church, sent to the congregation in a letter.
For even that sizzling juicy piece of bacon basking in the glow of the morning sun upon your plate was once a pig wallowing in the mud. Though truth be told, we may call it mud, we all know it is much more than that. It is months of sloppy horticultural stimulation goodness that when lathered upon a pig for thirty days gives your bacon a flavor nothing short of pure culinary ecstasy.