I find this a little funny, but do you like me?

Today, I was listening to my lovely governor, Mike DeWine, as he gave the state’s update.  This was on YouTube and I was in the middle of organizing my pantry.  After he gave the number of new Coronavirus cases, death totals, and other numbers that would make a statistician leap for joy, he entertained a Q and A session.

One of the questions that came up by a reporter address the concern of when can churches get back to regular worship (with precautions of course), and this lovely governor looked him straight in the eye and said (I kid you not), “we never told the churches to have social distancing”.  I stopped dead in my tracks as I listened to the governor, and thought to myself, “You never asked for churches to practice social distancing among the congregations?”  Do you like us?  He thought that since the areas of retail, barbers, hair salons, doctor’s offices, and eating places had this rule, churches would automatically fall in line, which we did. 

It is funny how the church was left out of the
Social distancing plan in the State of Ohio.

I want to throw something else into the mix, what if we did not comply? What if we did not social distance ourselves like the rest of the establishments in the city?  We could have started screaming about our rights to take communion, to hold choir rehearsals, and to have church meetings, without any regard to our health and the health of others. After all, there are some people who scream that they do have the right to not dress in a face mask or gloves, and that right was loud and proud last week after the retail businesses reopened their doors for the first time in 2 months of closing.  Would that be in the best interest of God’s people? Probably not.

It is as if Disney had said that they know what they are doing if they had kept the parks open during this time.  There are certain entities or industries who think they are the exception to things such as social distancing.  I think about the number of groups over the past few weeks who were armed with guns and wearing no masks as they demanded that their state reopens for the economy.  They were mostly white men who are sick and tired of the government telling them what to do in times of crisis. 

I am tired of it too, but let us be reasonable here.  If I am a person with a compromised immune system, and you sit next to me in a worship service, on the It’s a Small World ride at Walt Disney World, on an airplane, or at a dining place, and neither one of us has on a face mask, no gloves, and I get gravely sick, who is at fault?  Yes, I am, but you could be equally at fault because you are a carrier.  Places were closed so the governments could figure out a safe way to not spread the virus, and to curve it.

Today, Wednesday, May 20, 2020, was a very happy day.  The sun was out, the birds were singing.  Okay, maybe not, but at least it was not snowing.  I had a date with the Lord.   3pm the choir that I sing with on our morning worship services did several recordings for the online service we are now doing.  Now, why do you supposed I am happy?  Let us be honest for a moment, I love my family, I really do, but this is the first time in 2 months that I have seen my church family.  Okay, all but one.  I have seen the guy who I call, “my little brother” the Sunday before last when I picked up our dinners at the church.  At that time, I did not go in, but I talk to him for a minute, only a minute. 

Anyway, it felt like we never socially distanced during this time. It felt good and it felt right.  I got up dressed in a skirt and a top.  Why?  Because I am sick of sweats and my no bra shirts and tops.  I needed to dress decently anyway, so why not.  Two new pieces to add to my outfit, a mask, and gloves.  I will not mention the details of the recording sessions, if you follow me on social media, you will see the result Sunday morning.  Anyways I had fun for the Lord.

After that, I went to the grocery store to get some dinner.   I did not feel ordering takeout, going through the drive-thru, or going home to wait on GrubHub or Uber Eats, so I picked up some sushi, tofu (which I am starting to get back into), pizza dough for Friday night, pizzelles, and some provolone, and topped it with Starbuck’s. (there is a Kiosk in the grocery store that I go to). 

After I came home, I immediately went to Facebook live for bible study.  This topped my day, when my pastor talked about how the church was going to recover and that we must shift our atmosphere for a new kind of worship service.  I am here for it.  We no longer can be about “business as usual” as worship has taken on a different kind of meaning. Yes, I do miss the gatherings, seeing how everyone’s week has been, but to be honest, again, I do not mind it that my pastor says that regular worship services will not resume until September. I only hope that this does not make me too lazy that when that alarm goes off at 7:30 am, I do not roll over until 9 am and be dressed by 9:30 am, to be in a pew by 9:45 am, which is when worship service starts.  Right now, I get out of bed by 8:15 AM, breakfast by 9:45, downstairs, by 10 AM when service starts. We are done in an hour and a half (11:30 AM), and I am getting dinner for me and my family from the church by 12 NN. 

The last thing I find funny is the travel restriction. I was discussing this with my “little brother” today.  I was telling him that my nephew and girlfriend took my niece to meet her other grandparents in Louisiana for the week.  As I was explaining this to him, my “little brother” said that he thinks it was to mainly restrict air travel, they cannot do anything to you when you travel from state to state in a car.  As I walked out of the church, I agreed with him.  I also found it amusing that the governor lifted travel restriction just as it is time for my nephew and girlfriend to return to Ohio.

The moral of this whole pandemic is this…. You have to find some humor in the whole quarantine situation.  I know, it is no fun being sick or being the relative who received word that a loved one or best friend has died from this.  It is also no fun being told what to do for the sake of others, or your health.  After all, it is your body and you will treat it as you want to treat it. There are only a handful of people who have lived through the previous pandemic (the Spanish Flu), and people did not know what to during that time as well.  They went to it by ear and took notes.  If there is the next pandemic, I hope they learn from this one.  I hope there are notes taken and stored for world leaders, scientists, and the general population, who will say that are we going to do better than the last time.

Life is slowly getting back to normalcy with a new norm attached to it.  How is everyone treating this?  Walt Disney World reopened Disney Springs with new guidelines on how to shop and eat.  This is the first phase towards going back to normal, but what is normal?  Is normal the ability to not washing your hands, tailgating both in cars and standing under other people violating their personal space, and using cash? Can we try on clothes to make sure they fit, only to get back home and finding yourself shipping it back to the place you bought it from?  There are still a lot of questions that must be answered before life before the pandemic began before we can return.