Something I never thought I'd do.
But... Eddie and I huddled on the couch together watching my phone while the littles played legos on the floor.
Hymns, readings, sermon, prayers... and live chat.
I think the live chat was really church.
All of us, in our separate rooms, tuning in, coming together.
Commenting on the service as we watched, listened, prayed and sang.
We were all saying --
I'm here to stand for community.
I'm here for all of you and you are all here for me.
God is with us.
Eddie was so engaged. I think for him, the ground became more level. He was a voice, like all the rest of us. He could speak and be heard. He could listen and participate.
Online our interactions are different, there is more space for people who don't do as well with face-to-face interactions.
After service, I sat down and wrote an email to my preschool Sunday school class with some activities to do as a family that would teach this week's lesson and a prayer for parents who were all surely wrestling with new schedules and long periods of time with small children at home.
Earlier, my siblings put together a google hangout, just for the hell of it.
My brother who follows NCAA was trying to figure out a replacement activity.
We joked about making a CoronaVirus march madness bracket...
We laughed.
We talked about serious stuff.
We shared our lives.
It was like Christmas or Thanksgiving.
Just a slow time to be together.
I'm discovering so many tiny opportunities to build bridges in this time apart. I thought, that this time would push me inside to explore and ponder God on my own, but so far, the pull to build and strengthen relationships has been at the forefront of my reflections.
The time apart makes us hungry for each other.
When I'm on a diet, food tastes amazing.
When we are isolated, I think we are more in a space to be patient,
to try to understand each other,
to listen,
to share,
to genuinely connect.
And God is with us. Present in our prayers and our laughter and our texting and our singing off-key alone, but together in bathrobes in our living rooms.
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