The resilience of ordinary people & God is still with us

I enjoyed these videos of Italians, quarantined in their homes amidst the deadly coronavirus outbreak, singing to pass the time and lift their spirits. The author of the tweet phrased it well: the singing is a beautiful demonstration of the resilience of ordinary people.

Two weeks ago, no one had any idea what was coming, at least not here in the United States, and the worst is not yet past. What can I liken this to? It’s like a natural disaster but slower, and like wartime, but quicker. Food and medical supply shortage, quarantines, curfews, canceled events, economic uncertainty. Even if the virus ends up taking fewer lives than feared - God willing - it does not matter, because this has, irrevocably, become an historic global event.

And I wonder - what will change after this? Will more universities and work places permanently default to telework? Will the government continue waiving student loan interest? Will more people opt to homeschool their kids? How will the global supply chain change to ensure more things are made in America, and we are better prepared for future threats to our stability? These are not questions I would have imagined even a week ago.

Yesterday I quickly wrote an article about how to keep Lent in the midst of coronavirus, and it will be live on Catholic Stand tomorrow. I had to go back and make edits today, though, that’s how quickly things are changing; my own Archdiocese of Washington canceled all public Masses and gatherings at Church late yesterday. Today, the President declared a national state of emergency. So, this is where we are.

I will share the article tomorrow, which has practical tips (yes, I think it’s totally fine and normal and good to make an improvised Stations of the Cross in your home or backyard if your parish is closed). What I wanted to communicate is that God is still with us, even in this bizarre time.

I wrote:

“No doubt most of us would not have chosen this crisis to impact the world, but God, for some reason, has allowed it to happen. What can I learn about solidarity, care for others, patience, and letting go of my plans in this time? What about the reminder of the eternal connectedness of humankind, one in the body of Christ, suffering together around the world? There is something God is pointing out to us, and we can ask Him what that is in prayer.”

Indeed, there are many prayers that come out of this crisis. More:

“…that feeling of isolation many are experiencing opens up a world of meditations: what did Christ feel like in His last days, abandoned and alone? What did His disciples feel and experience in the days following Jesus’s death, as they hid from the Romans? What about those practicing their faith in secret every single day in countries where the Church is underground? How can I grow in compassion for those who spend their entire lives isolated, in prison or a nursing home? What we are experiencing is temporary; for others, quarantine is a way of life.”

Many people are stepping up to help the elderly and immuno-compromised get the food and supplies they need. Others are suggesting donating to food banks. Some are providing a temporary home for displaced students who are on extended mandatory spring break. These are all expressions of that singing of the Italians. The resilience of ordinary people facing an extraordinary thing. It is evidence of God’s ability to bring good out of bad, and it is all a sign of hope, even when there is no end in sight.

“Though you may have been dispersed to the farthest corner of the heavens, even from there will the LORD, your God, gather you; even from there will he bring you back.” Deuteronomy 30:4

Email Etiquette Class: April 29

Folks, I am pump-diddly-umped to share information on the email etiquette class I developed and will be teaching at General Assembly DC on Wednesday, April 29. REGISTER TODAY!

Thank you GA for this fun image

Details:

What: Workshop on Email Etiquette

Where: General Assembly DC, 509 7th St NW, Washington, DC 20004

When: Wednesday, April 29, 6:30-8:30 pm

About This Workshop

Register for this class to learn the do’s and don’ts of writing effective, positive, proactive email communication. Learn simple steps to guide your tone and professionalism when emailing, and learn when it’s time to move the conversation offline and face to face. Bring your sample troublesome emails and learn how to address them constructively with real-life, practical examples.

Takeaways

• The difference between writing professional and personal emails

• The advantage of being a proactive emailer

• When to use exclamation marks

• How to effectively find and set a meeting time with multiple parties via email

• The golden rule: never complain, never explain (in email writing, and in life!)

• And more!

I think the part I am most excited about is a.) hearing what concerns people have about emailing proactively, positively and professionally (why do we make email so complex?), and b.) also having the discussion about when to move from email to in-person discussion. Sometimes ya just gotta do it.

Register today!

Today I made a poached egg

This year I made a goal for myself to learn how to make a poached egg. Today was the day. See below.

It’s like how my new year’s resolution every year is “pet more dogs.” Very doable. Even, in some way, designed to throw others off the scent (you may think I am a poor cook or not interested in animals based on either of these goals). Very much not revealing my actual goals for the year.

On avocado toast, no less!

But there’s a reason for that. Isn’t there some group of people - I think an indigenous population - who believe that photography steals your soul? So every time someone snaps your picture, a piece of your soul goes away. (Someone better tell the Instagram influencers.)

That is how I feel about sharing goals too early. Why the need to tell one million people what you plan to do? How about just do it? The sharing, with out any ground to stand on, in some way dissolves the dignity of the goal. It saps it of its life. Maybe because talking about it is itself satisfying enough and it feels like it has been achieved, I don’t know. Or maybe that’s how your talk yourself out of it. Or giving it voice makes it seem too large and unconquerable. For all these reasons and others, whenever I have a goal that actually means something to me, typically I keep it mostly to myself.

Which brings me to another point about goals, which is I have been thinking lately about how thoughts are things and how everything that is, began as a thought. I thought about that egg - I visualized it sitting on the top shelf of my fridge in its little clear plastic case, nestled in with its egg brethren. I visualized the water boiling, and cooling, and swirling; the introduction of just a tablespoon of vinegar, the way the white would become solid and swirl around the increasingly opaque, sunshiney yolk. The rounding, the hardening. Slipping a slotted spoon into the hot water after approximately three minutes to rescue the eggie in in its new form, and indeed to give it its rightful place of honor atop a warm piece of buttery toast slathered in pulverized avocado. Heaven. I squealed when it was done. All of this was a thought, for two months, and then there it was in front of me, a thing.

So it is for small goals, so it is for big goals. The trick is the work that must be done in the middle, to take it from thought to thing. Oh, maybe that’s it - talking feels like work, to some. (It isn’t.)

While we’re on this topic, there is an additional, much more important thought here - and arguably the only one that matters - that we exist because God thought us into being. As I have heard it explained, He loved us into existence. And He allows us into the act of co-creating by allowing us to think things into existence - careers, homes, travels, art, relationships. It is good to create, because God is the first Creator.

I merely thought a poached egg into existence. But, I’ll take it (and I did).