Can this be over now, please?!?!?

A friend called me and yelled into the phone, “CAN THE PANDEMIC BE OVER NOW, PLEASE!” I knew who was calling even without looking at the caller ID. The caller was one of my most extroverted friends. She is an amazing clergywoman, a gifted preacher, an adventurer, and mom of two young boys.  She thrives on engaging with people, preferably in person. We have collaborated on projects over the years and I know her to be creative and wonderfully flexible as she seeks to proclaim God’s grace to the world.  But on this day it was clear that months of this pandemic have worn away at her usual “go with the flow” approach to life.  

I get it. So much has changed that we even have a new vocabulary to go with the times: “pandemic fatigue” and “quarantine fatigue.” These are real feelings, and they are hard. We are worn out by the ever changing virus statistics, the constant calculations we make as we decide what is safe to do and what isn’t, the political bickering that isn’t always grounded in our public health, and the fact that we just don’t know how or when this is going to end. This is hard. We are struggling. And we are people of faith. 

Our scriptures, the stories of how our lives are tucked into God’s story, contain words of encouragement for times such as these. Now, please hear me. Our hopes don’t negate our sufferings. We can experience both suffering and hope at the same time, and we should. We are not called to stuff our feelings, put on false smiles, and power through pandemics. Our grief, our frustrations, our pains are real and need to be acknowledged and tended.  The same is true for our hopes. Romans 12:12 reads, 

“Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer” (NRSV).

I find comfort and encouragement in these words, but sometimes it helps to hear them in different ways. The Message translation reads, “Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality” (Romans 12:11-13).

My friend and I talked about her sufferings but also her joys. She talked animatedly about the creative things her congregation is trying this summer.  She shared how lovely it has been being at home more with the boys and about the family hikes they have taken. In the midst of all the unknowns she has mastered new recipes, and planted a garden. She is still fueled by God’s love and grace, the prayers and practices of her tradition, and the call to seek justice for all. She still strives to be an “alert servant of the Master”  but knows she needs a few more naps than before the pandemic. Friends, it’s ok to cry out “CAN THIS BE OVER NOW, PLEASE!” Hold those cries up to God, knowing that God can handle our hardships. Hold up your joys, too, knowing that God rejoices in all goodness. Cling to what is good, and pray always, trusting that God hears our prayers.