A Lenten Break from Reality

by Pat Taylor

Who thought life could get this different so quickly? Frankly, for the first four days after we were told to shelter at home, I happily enjoyed myself. All my usual activities ceased. Life became easy. I had time to cook, time to do laundry, time to catch up on the 12 episodes of The Apocryphal Jesus I’d missed at Bible study.

But then reality set it. I am home in our cottage at Mason Christian Village. Ted is in lockdown in nursing in the main building, which we refer to as the Big House. He doesn’t understand why I’m not coming for my daily visits. Thank goodness I had kept the caregiver who’s been with us for three years. She is allowed in to take care of him. That has been a huge blessing.

Thanks to our caregiver, I was able to FaceTime with Ted this morning for almost an hour. That was a big help for both of us. I’ve also set him up with an Alexa that allows him to just say, “Alexa, call Pat Taylor at home.” The only problem with that is that he has a terrible time communicating with Alexa. He says, “Alexa,” then waits for her to respond. Of course, she doesn’t respond and shuts down after the prolonged silence. He gets frustrated, and I can’t imagine how Alexa must feel.

During the women’s retreat in February I determined that my Lenten study would be the parables of Jesus. There are 39 parables in the Bible, just enough to almost cover the days of Lent. My job is to read the parable of the day five times for each one of the senses: What do I see? Hear? Taste? Feel? Smell? Then enter the story and become part of the scene. Then identify with the story emotionally, and finally become one of the characters in the story. I have no excuses that I’m too busy or there’s not enough time. This break from reality gives me the opportunity to study at length.

It’s amazing how the parables come to life. Living the parable from different viewpoints brings enlightenment and understanding—perhaps not the kind of understanding that Jesus is looking for but understanding in my own way.

So, all is not bad from this isolation. I only hope that our isolation provides safety from the spread of this virulent disease. This is the first time in my 61 years as a Type 1 diabetic that I feel the disease is a threat to my life. I can only hope that with the blessing of God, I will survive.

Don’t forget to take Bishop Curry’s advice and wash your hands to the doxology. And with God’s blessing, do it often.

I miss my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Be safe,

Pat