Baking Cookies
A Reflection by Pastor Rosemary Landry
The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. - Psalm 32:8
We've just experienced our first week of “stay in place.” Most people are complying with this mandate, other than to be out for essential services. For some, it means trips to the store for groceries or medicine. Some doctors offices are doing computer appointments, visiting with patients with face time. Students are doing their homework via the computer and teachers are teaching classes with the computer. Restaurants are helping by having curbside take-out. What amazed me was that someone got mad at the restaurant for not allowing him to come in – and he paid them by cussing at them and urinating on their car.
Stories out of Texas tell us that people want to get the economy going again, even if it puts people at risk for the COVID. Some politicians there are saying that grandparents are willing to die for their grandchildren, so that the grandchildren can have a future. Does that make sense to anyone? What I do know – having lived on this earth 69 years – is that for every foolish person and what they are doing, there are so many more kind, compassionate, thoughtful and intelligent people around.
So those of us who can work at home are at the mercy of our computers and the internet. – that's me. Those of us with children or grandchildren (that's me) are counting on the internet to do homework or give us a few minutes of quiet time by using the TV as our babysitter. After being on the internet Zoom teleconferencing site Tuesday with our Deputy Superintendent and other ministers for 8 hours, both I and my computer had about had it with each other. Today, as I write this, my computer, internet, and TV have decided they no longer want to have anything to do with me. No TV babysitter for Nyexa. No internet and computer to send my work to Lynn. No internet to try to put messages on Facebook, Webpage, or YouTube. But thank goodness for cell phones. When the internet goes down so does my home phone. So no home phone – which is no big deal in itself. Unfortunately, the church answering machine has my home phone number if someone calls with a need.
I know that I am not the only person in Willits to have such a week. What has your week been like? Our internet is overloaded. Our nerves are a little frayed. Our tempers and patience a little shorter. Yet I also know that there are many people who really appreciate the chance to slow down a bit. Time at home to get projects done, more time for reading, chance to stay home with family, get caught up on letter writing and phone calls – and in this time of Lent, maybe a little more time to spend with God.
As I talked with other ministers about how COVID-19 is affecting their church, it's the same thing. Some are feeling the challenge of going online and learning how to do church via the internet is good for them. Some are truly distressed by it. We love being with our people at church worshiping. We love visiting the sick and home bound. We love the music of worship and preparing the message. That has all changed for us. Many of my friends and colleagues are delivering their messages daily and weekly by Facebook, YouTube, and websites.
Ah... that was the goal for the next few days. Until I had no internet and had to come to the realization that it would not happen – for how long I don't know. So I returned a call from a colleague who also had one of those days where this mess just doesn't seem real – full of uncertainty and angst. But she told me what she did to help herself out: she baked cookies. Something normal. Something we do all the time. Something that resulted in happy tastebuds. Something that brings memories of special times – maybe Christmas or Valentine cookies for loved ones. Or sugar cutouts with your children or grandchildren. I liked that.
Then another friend reminded me about letting go and letting God: that there is nothing I can do about what happened in my life today. Today reminds me of the journey of the Israelites in the wilderness. They whined about not having food and water; in fact, they even thought they might return to Egypt where they had been slaves, but at least had food.
At the end of the day, as I write this, I need to remember to be thankful. We have food in the house. Nyexa played by herself with toys instead of watching TV. And when I went to Safeway, they finally had TP (I was getting a little worried). I may not have had what I wanted today. I may be frustrated because I can't do as much work as I would like, but I feel blessed to know you all understand. The uncertainty about the future and the angst of how long we will be in this limbo-type life may have us feeling unsettled. Many of us love routine in our life and we just don't have it right now. So the next time I have a day like today, I'm going to stop whining, check the refrigerator for eggs, the pantry for chocolate chips, oil, and eggs. And I'm going to make chocolate chip cookies. See you in church… soon, I hope.
Peace... Rosemary