A friend posted something on Facebook that got me to thinking about my experience with the coronavirus lockdown:
None of my responsibilities has vanished with the lockdown, many have been added, and all have been made more difficult to fulfill.
I totally get that I am doubtless an outlier here, but my experience has been quite different. Setting aside the unpleasantness of which you know, which was my fault entirely, work has been fine. And, of course, I don't have to worry about losing my job. The appointments committee has run down at last. I only have one class this semester and it only meets twice a week. I'm a longstanding lecturer, so adapting to Zoom wasn't hard. We get 6 dinners a week from Home Chef and Hello Fresh and that makes grocery shopping less of a worry (although I admit our toilet paper situation is moving from the green into the yellow zone). No kids, of course, and the dogs are happy just playing in the back yard. I've had more time to spend on prayer and meditation, as well as time for amazing talks with Helen.
Getting off Twitter turned out to free up a huge amount of time! I miss my closest Twitter friends and wish they were on Facebook, but I don't miss Twitter. It's gotten pretty toxic and I fear I all too often contributed to the toxicity.
I do miss going to confession. I usually go about every 4-6 weeks, whether I need to or not (sadly, I almost always need to). But now I haven’t been since early January and while one seeks to make an act of perfect contrition when necessary, I miss the whole process of examining one’s conscience, anticipating the sacrament, participating in the sacrament, and doing penance. It and going to Mass are about the only things I really miss during this period of lockdown and they’re the first things I’m going to do when it lifts.
As I say, I realize I am very blessed and that most folks are struggling. My thoughts and prayers are with them. It nonetheless seemed appropriate to count my blessings and acknowledge them.
It’s also important that those of us who can do so share our blessings. Besides my wonderful local parish, Good Shepherd Church, which has been doing great work with the poor and homeless of our area, I’ve also been supporting some other great groups and encourage you to do so if you can:
