Piloting Faith: We are not in the same boat...
A Word for the Day...
These are confusing days. Do we open states? Do we stay home? Will my job be there when this is over? Will my child be going to school in the fall? Will I run out of money this month? Can my family help me if I should need it? What will I do if I get sick and don't have insurance?
It's hard to find our bearings. Life feels adrift, and while we are sharing the experience of disorientation, we are not all experiencing the same vulnerabilities. We are in this together, but our journeys are uniquely our own.
I recently read a piece that helped me tap into this sense of isolated connection that I've been experiencing. Perhaps you've seen it too...
WE ARE NOT IN THE SAME BOAT
I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that.
We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.
Your ship could be shipwrecked, and mine might not be.
Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflections, of re-connection, easy in flip-flops, with a cocktail or coffee.
For others, this is a desperate financial and family crisis.
For some that live alone, they’re facing endless loneliness.
While for others it is peace, rest, and time with their mother, father, sons and daughters.
With the $600 (US) weekly increase in unemployment, some are bringing in more money to their households than they were working.
Others are working more hours for less money, due to pay cuts or loss in commissioned sales.
Some families of four just received $3,400 from the stimulus package, while other families of four saw $0.
Some were concerned about getting a certain candy for Easter, while others were concerned if there would be enough bread, milk, and eggs for the weekend.
Some want to go back to work because they don’t qualify for unemployment and are running out of money.
Others want to kill those who break quarantine.
Some are at home spending two to three hours a day, helping their child with online schooling, while others are doing the same on top of a 10–12 hour workday.
Some have experienced the near death of the virus, some have already lost someone from it, and some are not sure if their loved ones are going to make it.
Others don’t believe this is a big deal.
Some have faith in God and expect miracles this year.
Others say the worst is yet to come.
We are not in the same boat. We are going through a time when our perceptions and needs are completely different.
Each of us will emerge, in our own way, from this storm. It is important to see beyond what is seen at first glance. Not just looking, actually seeing.
We are all on different ships during this storm, experiencing a very different journey. — Unknown Author
I don't know the unique contours of your journey, but I am grateful to ride out the waves together. My comfort comes, not in an expectation that God will perform some great miracle, but that God is with us through it all. We can trust this journey because we are not alone.
Rev. Cameron Trimble
Author of 60 Days of Faith: A Devotional
Prayer for the Week
Loving God,
Mother, Child, and Holy Spirit,
We pray for those who suffer from the coronavirus
Throughout the United States, and across the world.
For our families and loved ones, we pray.
For our neighbors in mourning, we pray.
For first responders, healthcare workers, and caregivers, we pray.
For researchers and medical professionals, we pray.
For our neighbors in prison and without medical attention, we pray.
For our neighbors experiencing homelessness, we pray.
For our children, teachers, and schools, we pray.
For policymakers in need of wisdom, we pray.
For communities to practice faithful resistance, we pray.
Send comfort to everyone in distress
And a sense of calm to all of us in these uncertain times.
Hear the cries of your people, vulnerable and afraid.
Teach us to be kind to ourselves and to one another.
Be for us a wellspring of living water,
Filling us with your healing and love.
Remind us of that which makes us human —
To accept uncertainty without losing hope,
To trade anxiety and despair for patience and peace,
To find joy in the simple things,
To speak and act with compassion,
To love always.
We ask these things in the name of all that is holy and good.
Amen. Àṣẹ. May it be so.
- leea allen, Minister for Faith and Justice at Virginia Highland Church
