Sunday, March 22, 2020

A Break from Reality

The reality is, there is no escaping.

I'm not talking about the virus, per se, although some might say this is inevitable; I'm writing about the inescapable difficulty not to be thinking about the coronavirus. Everything we are engaged in, whether media, social isolation or common conversations, are infected with fear.

It's hard work to be afraid all the time. Blood pressure rises. Anxiety increases. Brain function seems to slow because all of our senses are attuned to threats of exposure. It's like a computer that's trying to do routine calculations, but in the background, a six hour video is trying to upload to the internet. All because we can't take a break from reality.

The government's reality is that we are bombarded with COVID-19 rules: don't gather here, don't have too many people, if you've come from somewhere else, stay home for two weeks, wash your hands, etc... If you're anything like me, your head is spinning trying to do the right thing and still feel guilty if you sneeze into your hands.

In some ways, it's eerily similar to a biblical episode in the life of Jesus:

On the Sabbath, Jesus was going through the grainfields, and his disciples began to make their way picking some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to Jesus, 'Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?'

After giving a biblical precedent, Jesus turns to the Pharisees and says, 'The Sabbath was made for humans and humans for the Sabbath. So, then, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.'

In other words, God can do whatever God wants to do any day of the week, including keeping his disciples healthy.

I could go into the background of this passage and the innumerable laws laid down for God's people, but I won't today, because Jesus' important words are about the purpose of the Sabbath. The goodness of this day, a day of rest and refraining from work, is a gift from God to his people. Because they have worked themselves to the bone for six days, there is nothing better than to rest, to put one's feet up, even to have discussions about faith, family and everything in between. Jesus is Lord of this day as well of the other six.

To rest on this day allows the body to resettle back to equilibrium so that the next workweek can begin.

Now, in 2020, it seems that the intention of the Sabbath morphs into something entirely different. Instead of refraining from the labour of our hands, we rest the fear in our minds, the anxiety of our hearts and the constant adrenaline that stimulates our blood to move faster. During this time, we need a Sabbath more than ever, to take a break from the reality (or unreality) of the situation in which we live, to stop, pick the grain nearest to us and stare into the faces of people we love to chat about important things.

How can we do this? How can we have a Sabbath from fear? This isn't rocket science. It's not even seventh grade biology, but it's still good for me to hear:

1. For an entire day, keep the TV, radio, computer turned off. This seems counterintuitive to protect ourselves, but I think the break from immersion of media will be far more helpful than detrimental.

2. Take a bath. As I write that, it sounds funny in my ears. But baths cause us to slow down and soak. Light some candles, put some music on in the background, and relax.

3. Read a book. You can do this while in the bath, but maybe save it for afterwards. Honestly, if you have a real-life book with pages and everything, it will do your sense good to flip the pages rather than swipe them.

4. Lastly, Connect with someone you haven't talked to in a while. For most of us, this means turning on the phone, and the temptation to check the news might be too great, but I say, pick a number between 1-50 and call whoever that is in your phone contacts. You never know what might come up. If you can help it, don't talk about the coronavirus or anything associated with fear. Maybe talk about your history with them.

There are so many things we can be doing on our Sabbaths, but try these four. See what happens. See how you feel at the end of the day. God bless you as you take a break from reality.

2 comments:

Debbie Gortowski said...

I always go to the psalms in times of happiness or trials.
I have been reading psalm 129. It is about tenacity and perseverance. A person of faith outlasts all oppressors and oppressions.
FAITH LASTS!!!!
The enemies of perseverance are apathy, sluggishness, and neutrality. These put tenacity to death. These attitudes act like a “virus” and weakens and debilities discipleship.
Because of God’s righteousness, God is for us. Our perseverance is the result of God’s sitick-to-itness for us. The key message in psalm 129 is that God sticks with us in His righteousness. God sticks to his personal relationship with us. As a result, we need to center ourselves around him. Perseverance is not resignation. Perseverance is triumphant and alive!
We bless you in the name of the LORD!”

Debbie Gortowski said...

This link is to a National Geographic site to help parents with children understand the virus.In addition, there are boredom buster ideas,


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