It’s day Godknowswhat of this lockdown – how are you doing?
We have reached a state where nothing is sure anymore.
We don’t know when we’ll go back to school or what school will look like in the future.
We don’t know if we’ll see some students this year at all.
We don’t know if there will be grades or any graduation.
I don’t know what my summer break will look like.
I don’t know when I’ll be able to see real human beings in real life again.
I don’t know when we’ll be able to just sit on the lawn together, with a beer in hand, watching the sunset.
I don’t know if my family will be spared from the virus.
I don’t know how our hearts and minds will overcome this collective trauma.
I don’t know if any of the good practices we discover now – self-care, long walks, enough sleep, solidarity – will uphold once the speed of life is back on.
Uncertainty really sinks in now and I feel a shift in so many. So far we were able to push back the circumstances as temporary, now we have to get used to the reality that this could really take a while and we need to adjust everything – our schedules, plans, lives – to it.
This can be overwhelming.
In the last few weeks I’ve practiced some meditative rituals (inspired by Aaron Niequist’s The Eternal Current) which help me to acknowledge my joys and fears in these crazy times. I can’t make them go away, but I can lay them out in the open and place them into the hand of the Divine who’s right here with me. In such crazy and uncertain times, it is important to reflect (and maybe adjust) our perspective regularly.
Maybe you’d like to join me?
Find a comfortable position, close your eyes and breathe. Inhale and exhale deeply. Once you’ve found a rhythm, start the meditation.
This practice is not about dragging God into my life. I rather want to discover the places God is already at work in it. I focus on God right now, as much as this is possible in this moment. I ask him to help me look at my day with open eyes and ears and a receptive heart.
I look at my day in gratitude, thinking of what I’ve experienced.
I notice what I feel. God reminds me that I can look back without judgement or shame at how I treated others – and myself – today.
If you want, you can reach out your right hand, palm up.
I look at the things that brought me joy, comfort and hope today. I express gratitude for them.
If you want, you can also reach out your left hand, palm up.
I look at the things that caused me pain, discouragement and fear today. I sit and grieve, then let them go into the hands of God.
I look to what lies ahead. I ask: What do I want to take with me from today? I ask for strength, wisdom and courage.
Inhale. Exhale. End.
Writing for Five Minute Friday today.
thisiskatha.com 
So well stated. Ancient practices connect with our spiritual ancestors and remind us that the same God that spoke to them speaks to us. “This practice is not about dragging God into my life. I rather want to discover the places God is already at work in it.”
Good list of “what ifs.” I’m grateful that God is in control, and can be trusted.
They say it’s so uncertain,
in these days gone mad,
but if you pull back the curtain,
it isn’t all that bad.
We’ve had to learn about the things
that we can do as well without:
the coffee-house, the mallrat-bling,
and the need to scream and shout
about our busy fast-paced lives
in the social-media whirl,
and celebs whose husbands and whose wives
are replaced by younger boy or girl.
We have the chance now to see proof
of God’s own eternal truth.
Oh Andrew, your sonnets are just so good. I’ve been saving the ones that speak to my heart the most in a folder. You’re in my thoughts and prayers.
we are dealing with a lot of what if’s nowadays aren’t we? Having the perspective of looking for God… is a good way to help us find needed balance. visiting from #26 FMF