(Half in fun, half in earnest, trying to lighten my mood, control my anxieties on this.  I thought some of you might enjoy/benefit from it as well)

OK, friends, here’s the truth. I’m sitting here, spraying Lysol all around me, wondering if I’ll be killed by evil Captain Corona.

I ask myself how the heck did I end up in the “elderly, frail and vulnerable” bin?

After a rather fruitless attempt at a Prayer of Abandonment, I say to myself, “What can I learn from this?” And the always challenging, open question, “Where is God in this?”

My ancestors’ voices come to me saying, “Honey, you’re gonna’ die someday anyway. Don’t be stupid about safety, but try to keep things in perspective. Self-isolate and wash your hands! And then, get on with life!”

My Dad in particular returns to mind with his often shared advice over many decades:

“When your ticket’s up, you’re going.
If it’s not up, you ain’t going, so relax.”

With that attitude, Dad lived bravely through poverty, orphanhood, depression, flu epidemics and world wars (as well as 1968). So I say to myself, “For God’s sake, get some of Dad’s chutzpah!”

As a result, here’s my main desired attitude:

• Learn from this. It’s like no other time you will experience! Don’t miss the lessons!
• Woman up! (Man up! Or Kid up! – Whatever works.)
• Be kind. Yes, everybody you’re talking to may shrivel and die by next Tuesday. They probably won’t, but don’t you want to be one of their last kind thoughts, just in case?
• Everybody is at least a little anxious. Be the Calm, not the Agitator.
• Those bucket list items you never had the guts to do? When Captain Corona is dead from vaccine, go DO them. You almost missed the chance, Baby!
• Don’t fly, cruise, crowd-gather or do anything else that can wait til the coast is clear.
• And for heaven’s sake (or Earth’s) continue to always wash your hands. You know you cheated for years on that 20 second scrub! If you get cut a break and live, pay it forward!

And China and other highly affected countries? They paid the price for the rest of us to get ahead of this. Pray for them, and confront those using this as an excuse for racism or xenophobia.

Speaking of racism and all other kinds of hateful categorizations, we all know now what it feels like to be at least slightly desperate for ours lives. Let’s take down the walls of war, immigration isolation, racial profiling… and endlessly on! We know now what a refugee might experience — what it feels like to run from a threat we can’t outrun! Let’s help one another!

Dear God, we can be mean! Let this global suffering teach us! Teach us to rejoice in one another’s lives and to protect them, always, because each one is precious…. each one.

And my final prayer:
Hey, Dad, now among the Saints, ask God to help me to become a better person because of this mess, not a worse one, please?

(And for Heaven’s sake, Friends, unearth the 12-year-old Scotch (or case of Corona beer) in the back of your closet, if you happen to have one😂 What were you saving it for anyway!)

Music: Learn Your Lessons Well