Still Together though Physically Distanced
If you’ve spent any time with me, you know I believe we’re always better together than we are apart. I’m in conference ministry because I want to foster stronger connections, and I believe we have more opportunities for nurturing spiritual growth and making a real prophetic change when we do it together. I am stronger because you are with me, and you are stronger when I am with you.
The current pandemic — and all of the best practices surrounding it — forces us to think more deeply about what it means to be together. In Washington state’s King County, the health department is asking people not to gather in groups of ten or more, which means churches in that area are not meeting. According to health officials, folks who are over the age of sixty are more-likely to shed the virus, and at greater risk for severe illness. Since many of our members fall into that demographic, many are choosing to stay home from church and other activities. Among the Council of Conference Ministers, we’re having serious conversations about canceling our in-person meeting later this month. In the desire to stay safe, the message we’re hearing is that we’re better if we’re alone. I don’t know about you, but I’m already feeling the sense of isolation this disease brings. And yet, I remain certain we’re better together.
One of the lessons I’ve learned from this challenge is how much my health is tied to your health and to the health of everyone around me. Two weeks ago, I was asked to write a statement of support addressed to the Oregon legislature about HJR 203, the constitutional amendment that would obligate the state to ensure every resident access to cost-effective, medically appropriate, and affordable health care. I’ve been thinking about that statement as I consider the health of our communities during this pandemic.
If one member of our church is sick with COVID-19, we’re all vulnerable. That’s clear. But the same is true with other illnesses — even though it’s not always as clear. In my nearly-six years as a hospice chaplain and seven years as a volunteer in communities of recovery, I learned how one person’s health or illness can affect a whole family system. Everyone is off balance when mom has cancer, and we are all healthier when our sibling has a healthy relationship with alcohol.
All of this means the systems that keep my neighbor healthy also keep me healthy. The accessibility of healthcare for those who don’t have houses or money doesn’t just affect them, it affects how something like a pandemic moves through our cities. Each of us is connected to all of us in a web of health. We’re being confronted with that fact more-starkly today, but it’s always been true. We’re healthier when we’re all healthier.
The other thing I’ve been thinking about is how more technologically connected we are than we’ve ever been. We see this in how air travel can spread disease, and how email and airwaves can be used to broadcast good information (or hijacked to spread panic). However, I’d like us to also consider all the ways we can be connected spiritually and emotionally when our physical health requires separation.You certainly have people in your life and in your church who are staying at home right now, because they worry about contracting a virus. The good news is they don’t have to be isolated and alone. You can call them. You can even Facetime with them. We live in an age of technology that allows us to be present with one another while remaining at a safe physical distance. That’s fantastic news, and gives us lots of ways to be stronger together.
If there are people in your community who are self-isolating for their physical safety, please reach out to them. Don’t wait for your pastor to make the call. Don’t feel like you need special permission. In the information age, we can touch one another’s spirits across vast distances, and we need to be touching one another during these scary times.
I truly believe we’re better together than we are apart. Your health is tied up with mine, so I’ll do what I can to keep you healthy, and I pray you’ll do the same for me. I also know we don’t have to be isolated just because we’re apart. I’m deeply grateful for the colleagues I have in conference ministry who have been meeting over Zoom, and having rich and holy Basecamp conversations. I’m also grateful that I can call my mom on my Portal, and really see with my eyes how she’s doing.
We need each other. We’re healthier together. And we’re stronger when we’re in community — whatever technological form that community takes.
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