Scanning for Viruses
It is Tuesday, mid-morning, and I sit in my office at home readying myself to switch from the distraction of emails, and therefore the rabbit-hole of COVID-19 news, to worship preparation for the upcoming weeks of Easter Celebrations. That’s right - Easter Sunday may be April 12, but each Sunday after that through Pentecost are called “Sundays of Easter.” The word “Easter” comes from an old english word that refers to a dawning light, or shining. The pandemic has certainly shone a line on many aspects of our modern life! Looking for inspiration, I attempted to open up the sermon series outline I’ve been using this year, but realized that since I was in a new section of the outline, I needed to download the relevant document.
I hit “download”. A little notification popped up: “Scanning for Viruses” it read.
How simple, and how reassuring that little phrase struck me. My computer was operating properly, and I would likely not wind up with some unexplainable error simply because I downloaded this particular document. It was amazing the sense of peace that entered me after reading those simple words: scanning for viruses.
If only life were that easy, especially life right now.
Instead, we are living in a new world of uncertainty, suspicion, mistrust, misinformation, cavalier dismissiveness, and fear. If only we could, in a few seconds, be scanned for viruses. Would we feel safer? Or would that virus scan reveal that we each are a walking petri dish kept in check by an impressive array of natural functions that occasionally either does not have the resources it needs to keep us on the level or goes utterly bananas in its attempt to keep our chemistry in balance?
Suddenly that instant “human virus scan” doesn’t seem so helpful after all.
So, what can give us that sense of reassurance that I felt after seeing my computer scan a downloaded document for viruses? Prayer, meditation, reaching out to friends, neighbors, loved ones, acquaintances from long ago, people you have met more recently but barely know. We are living in a shining new light of celebrating the myriad ways we have of connecting with one another. Social media has been viewed in some ways as the “death of personal connection.” Right now, social media and other ways of connecting virtually - phone, letters, emails, video conference calling systems and other VIOP (voice-over-IP) are the only methods of checking up with one another and we, as a global society, are learning viscerally how much the in-person, face-to-face connection really is. How important a hug really is. How important person-to-person interaction really is. It is an illuminating light shining on a dawning new reality and realization.
Live into this new reality - it is about as Easter as we can get.
I love you all
Stay Safe and Healthy
Wash Your Hands
Peace be with you
~Rev. Andrea Joy Holroyd
P.S. - I have received a couple Easter Greetings and photos or selfies. The goal is to make an Easter Celebration video with your images and your words so we can all see each other, however briefly. Email them to me at pastor at schohariepresbyterian dot org
