Time.

What a difference time makes.

Just 10 days ago, I saw these shelters popping up in the hospital parking lot – an ominous harbinger of the rocky ride to come.

A week ago, half of my patients for the day called in to cancel – and I didn’t blame them.

Six days ago, I was the one doing the calling, telling a majority of my clients – who trusted me to help them find relief from pain or immobility – that I couldn’t see them anymore; that they should stay away, stay home, stay put.

4 days ago, I received word of a friend who was personally impacted by the death of a loved one due to complications of this scourge that has swept the planet.

Three days ago, I was forced to stay six feet askance from my parents as we picnicked in our separate cars, separated by fear of what undesired things we might share, while we yearned to share time and space.

Today, I was met at the door of my workplace by staff wielding thermometers and screening forms.
Then, I became one of them. I scarcely take a breath or a moment to think as the words spill out: “Do-you-have-a-new-or-worsening-sore-throat/cough/shortness-of-breath?Any-muscle-aches-not-attributed-to-exercise?Any-recent-close-unprotected-contact-with-an-individual-confirmed-positive-for-COVID-19?Any-fever-greater-than-100ºF?”

We’ve all grown accustomed to shaking our heads “No” as the list of questions pours out.
We’ve all grown accustomed to treating each cough as sinister.

In the 10 days since those tents popped up in the parking lot, I – with thousands, millions around the world – have been watching graphs of exponential curves, ever-widening circles, and case reports that boast locations closer and closer to home.

I’ve read dozens of emails detailing what protective equipment to wear, which items can be re-used (when usually we’re told to toss it because it is infectious), and how to keep ourselves and others safe. Hour by hour, guidelines and mandates shift, new policies supersede some made just a day earlier. My head swims, my eyes droop. I’m exhausted. And I’m not even on the “front lines”.

We are living in extraordinary times. But as time creeps speedily on, an underlying theme emerges clearly and steadily:

People want to help one another.
People want to be near one another.
People want to love one another, to care for one another.

This terrible contagion that pays no heed to national borders, personal creed, tax bracket, race, or religion has – in an unexpected fashion – shown that people, too, can choose to pay no heed to these social dividers.

Forced to be apart, we’ve drawn together.
Separated by walls, we’ve unified.

Each of us is capable of turning toward the good that God has placed in our hearts. What a time to remember and embrace that movement.
Let’s love each other fully, unabashedly, messily — and from a distance. ❤️
I’m praying for you!