For the past several weeks winter weather has kept us homebound more tightly than we’ve been the past year due to COVID restrictions. We have an occasional nice day but it seems that just as we make weekend plans, zap, another storm system heads our way, keeping us shut in.
This past weekend we’d planned a short trip to Richmond to celebrate Maggie’s birthday, something we do every year. But, for the third weekend in a row, winter snow and ice kept us in – just another reminder that despite what we might deceive ourselves into believing, we are not in control of much of anything, ever.
As a further reminder of this powerless, I discovered that both of my children’s homes were without electricity for more than twenty-four hours over the weekend. Considering they live on opposite sides of the country, it was a profound reminder, in case I hadn’t been listening.
Over the course of the past year I’ve had so many of these reminders; times when I wish I could have been with my children, my parents, my siblings and friends to provide help and support but couldn’t for fear of COVID. In so many ways this time of Corona has been a test of my faith, not in my belief in God but in my surrender to the Spirit. This isn’t the same as rolling over and giving up. On the contrary, it is a leap of faith; the acknowledgment that there is One Great Power and it is not I.
Resting in the Lord has always been a challenge for me. Like Martha, I tend to be a “do-er”. It may be the result of my family placement as the oldest of six children but I have tended to express my prayer through movement. Quiet meditation and contemplation is a hurdle for me.
I do believe that God speaks to each of us in ways we can understand. In my case, I look for God winks – little things that some might consider coincidence. As an example, this morning as I’ve been writing, I’ve been listening to my specially chosen Pandora station featuring church music that played a major role in my adult formation. As I was beginning to turn my focus from my personal powerlessness to my faith, this began to play:
“My life goes on in endless song
Above earth’s lamentations,
I hear the real, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.
Through all the tumult and the strife
I hear its music ringing,
It sounds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
While though the tempest loudly roars,
I hear the truth, it liveth.
And though the darkness ’round me close,
Songs in the night it giveth.
No storm can shake my inmost calm,
While to that rock I´m clinging.
Since love is lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?”
With this reminder I’ll close and today I will do my best to try to remember who really has the power and control and try to rest easier in that knowledge.