I am learning to be quiet . . . 

No. I didn’t say that – You know me!

A friend who is off the charts in terms of always using her time well said in recent days she has simply slowed to a snail’s pace her daily routines. “I am content,” she said, “to be quiet in a chair, for an hour, and just watch the birds.” This from a Master’s degree graduate, student of theology, retired military, serious cyclist, and equally passionate gardener.

Maybe what she is experiencing describes how I am feeling:

becoming at ease in uneasy days.

I am not quiet so much as I am learning to live in a time that feels surreal . . . But it is very real – and not always quiet.

We shut the world down awhile back to prevent a pandemic from overwhelming the health care system, and to save lives . . . OLD people’s lives. That’s been quite expensive . . . and now the Lieutenant Governor of Texas  declared what many have come to believe:

“There are more important things than living, and that’s saving this country for my children and grandchildren and saving this country for all of us,” he said late on Monday. “I don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die, but man we gotta take some risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running.” (Source)

Of course, it won’t be Doug and me taking the first risk. Nor, will many elected officials take a risk either, I reckon.  No, it will people who are younger than we or Lt Gov. Patrick are; people who are way more essential – like the already exhausted first responders, nurses, doctors, and hospital maintenance crews. And our kids.

It’s ironic that I spent the day painting and  plagiarizing Edvard Munch’s painting, “Anxiety.” I also thought about the risks we all  face.

Anxiety 1884 & 2020

Also,  it’s no coincindece that I concluded this day with a reminder God doesn’t foment anxiety. The God to whom I am entrusting my anxiety about the nation’s plans to get the economy restarted has the government on his shoulder. His kingdom is not about eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Prayers for the Church, Our Nation and the World #21)

 Tomorrow, Lord willing, I hope to paint a cheery subject . . . copying Munch’s sky was a tad scary. 

Have I said this before?