The world turned upside down… What a difference a week makes! So many cancellations, missed trips, outings, appointments, vacations, flights, and on and on. Plans have changed! For those of you who “attended” the online service this past Sunday, you know that it’s not all bad. Coming into the service and looking up at the screen to see so many familiar, smiling faces warmed my heart. It was especially fun to catch a little inside glimpse of our church family’s lives. Families snuggling under a blanket while still in their PJ’s, couples huddled in close so both their images would appear in their box, at least one person attending from the outdoors. It felt so much warmer and cozier than I’d imagined. I’ve attended a lot of Zoom meetings and they’re good, but Rev. Wendy and Rev. Lynn reminded us that our church is so much more than a building. It’s us, our elders, our babies, and everyone in between. We are blessed.

Last Tuesday, a colleague created a religious professionals COVID-19 Facebook page. Less than a week later, there are more than 1,400 members and there have been more than 33,000 posts! Ministers sharing insight and asking questions, DRE’s sharing ideas and wonderings, authors generously giving blanket consent to use their writings! There was a wonderful debriefing after Sunday’s service on this Facebook page, as the majority of UU churches in the country were doing the same thing we were doing. Folks were asking what worked and what didn’t work with each other’s services. Many encountered some bumps along the way, there was a lot of learning, and many enthusiastic UU’s joining together with their UU families, taking comfort in each other’s presence. There was tremendous warmth and gratitude all around. It was truly moving to see the outpouring of concern and support on the FB page–social media at its best!

Members of our church have offered free virtual services, restaurants have offered to provide free lunches for children, U-Haul has offered free storage for college students suddenly displaced, even cable companies have offered free Wi-Fi for students studying from home in need of Wi-Fi. While this pandemic is scary and overwhelming, it feels to me like our country hasn’t been this united in an awfully long time.

While those of us who are able are hunkering down, working from home, being with our families, there are many working the front lines–medical professionals, supermarket employees, pharmacy employees, firefighters, police, and many others. I know being housebound and maybe going a little stir crazy can be rather challenging. In honor of those on the front lines, let us make the best of this time. So much of our time passes by much too quickly as we hurry from one to-do item to the next.

My eldest daughter has been sending me snapchats of her and my grandchildren playing outside in the sunlight, my baby granddaughter making so many discoveries for the first time! Usually, there would be vocal lessons, dance lessons, homework, 4-H, and so many other activities. All good stuff, but not quite as special as taking the time to stop, play, connect, and savor time together.

In lieu of “regular” RE classes, I sent an email to parents and one to teachers recently, both with suggestions of things to do during this time of social distancing, some videos to watch to help us better understand the virus, as well as some other resources. The RE teachers, advisors, and I will be reaching out regularly to parents, guardians, children, and youth. The hope is that we might re-imagine RE during this time. The K/1 OWL class has three lessons left and their teachers will be providing parents and guardians the information and materials needed to teach the lessons at home; when we’re able to return to church, they’ll have a closing celebration together. Sr Youth will have some group chats with their advisors and classmates. While the 6/7 Building Bridges trip to the Latter-Day Saints/Mormon church has been cancelled, their teachers have shared information for parents and guardians to work with their children at home–might be a good opportunity to learn together. 8/9 Coming of Age Youth will also have some group chats with their advisors and classmates as they begin to prepare their credos for their service this spring. During this confusing time, it’ll be good to connect and to hear others share their joys and concerns, many of which are likely similar to our own.

Reach out, share time (virtually) with someone who might be lonely–if you’re lonely, reach out to someone who’s usually too busy to chat but might just have some time right now; visit YouTube and learn a new skill; attend a virtual yoga class together as a family; have a picnic in the living room; build something with your kids. Or maybe explore the UUA.org website. This is a time we will always remember. Let us make some good memories!