COVID-19, a strain of coronavirus, brings the world to its knees.
Not nuclear war, not an ice age, not an earth blasting meteor, but a microscopic virus halts a large portion of the economy, sending people scurrying to buy stuff they might need. Many businesses and stores close their doors, people out of jobs, finances uncertain…grocery shelves empty.
Social distancing fractures certain relationships yet strengthens others as people adapt to spending time with only a few people, mostly family.
Face masks provide a barrier to transmission of the virus, but also takes away the personal aspect of facial expressions. We can’t see someone smile, or frown. The hearing-impaired who rely on lip reading as an aid to communication are now closed off from conversations.
Are we doomed to become a robotic society? Faceless, communication through electronic devices our only option?
Lord God, I pray this is not so. I pray this will, instead, bring us closer together. As we battle a common enemy, we need to reach out to You and to support each other in this fight. Yet we MUST let common sense prevail. We must maintain our humanness and our relationships.
Relationships built on love, compassion, growth, and doing things together.
I walked with Reecie, my horse, along a grassy lane. When she lowered her head to graze, I gazed at the trees and the pond nearby. After a few moments, I lifted my hand on the lead rope and we walked a few strides before she stopped again to graze. Unhurried, we walked, she grazed, we walked some more.
Part of the fear of COVID-19 is the unfamiliarity of it, how to recognize an infection, how it might impact us, what to do to prevent it.
I walk Reecie on these sections of the farm 
because I want to make the property familiar to her, to take the “scary” out of it. With the familiarity it will become safer for me to ride this area, after the virus scare is over. She and I can get back to riding and add these trails to the area we travel. I’m inspired by the words of a teenage girl, who commented years ago about Reecie getting a good foundation because we “do stuff” in addition to riding.
Reecie and I built a relationship on the foundation of “doing stuff.” Sure, I do the basics of horse care, things like – feed her, brush her, clean up after her. But often I just relax and spend time with her. Just Reecie and I, going for a walk, challenging ourselves with new areas or new tasks. Building on our foundation and strengthening our relationship.
Let’s use these quarantine, self-isolation, stay home mandates and policies as a way to build our foundation with our families, and with Jesus Christ. Take the time do more than just the basics of survival. Do stuff together wherever we are. Challenge ourselves with learning more about Creator of this universe.
I want to spend time with my Savior. Reading His word, enjoying His creation, sharing my ponderings with others. Let me know if I can help guide you on that path.
What relationships are you building? What ways have you found to do stuff together, yet maintain the required social distancing?
Ponder this—no matter how scary the coronavirus is, God’s power is much greater and the victory is already His!
“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” Romans 8:37-9 (NASB).
And THAT is the ultimate relationship.
paynefulponderings 