Peace in a pandemic
By Rev. Elizabeth Rowley,
Spiritual Director
March 18, 2020
It’s difficult to find peace of mind during a pandemic.
On Sunday, we asked our congregation not to come to the physical location of the Center, rather to tune in to Facebook Live instead. We received a lot of great feedback about the service, and we are looking forward to doing the same for at least the next few weeks.
It is our civic duty to protect the vulnerable and work toward minimizing the spread of this virus wherever possible and adhere to the social distancing guidelines set forth by our governor Gavin Newsom.
As such, we must find new ways to relate, connect, and feel a sense of belonging. Whether you attend our Center or another church, ask about options to Livestream the service from home. Many churches are also offering midweek connection through Zoom video conferencing, which is very easy to use. Please do what you can to stay connected rather than allow yourself to isolate.
I found the following quote by Rabbi Yosef Kanefsky comforting: “Every hand that we don’t shake must become a phone call that we place. Every embrace that we avoid must become a verbal expression of warmth and concern. Every inch and every foot that we physically place between ourselves and another, must become a thought as to how we might be of help to that other, should the need arise.”
We are hosting a midweek spiritual practice online on Wednesday at 6:30 PM for all, and the details can be found on our Facebook page at @cccenterforspiritualliving, or on the main page of our website at www.cccsl.org. It will be an online gathering for centering, prayer, and meditation to cultivate peace; all are welcome.
I embrace that everyone is feeling a little bit of fear, and the fear is ok. The best thing we can do is breathe into that fear, feel it, and remember that we are all in this together. We will get through this together with compassion and loving-kindness.
Let us all do our best to let go of any judgments that arise, whether it be around who bought all the toilet paper, tissue, and rice, to who is wearing a mask and goggles, or who should be doing what.
Compassion for one another, including ourselves, is vital. Peace and unity are also fundamental, and I encourage all of us to take time to count our blessings and practice deep breathing.
I am focusing on the word wholeness. I’m taking that word into my prayer and meditation daily, as well as journaling about it. I am also taking time to focus my attention on what is good and well in my life. I count my blessings daily and contemplate how I might contribute to the well-being of the world I live in. I practice being an epicenter of peace and calm.
Remember to breathe, be kind, think loving thoughts of compassion, breathe, release tension in your body, breathe.
And so it is.
