I think this pandemic is getting harder and harder for all of us. I have tried to find some positives and hope you enjoy this. This is the nineteenth Reflectionf from the church e-news! The picture is from the patio at Twisted Olive and is one of my favorites!
BE GRATEFUL FOR THE LITTLE THINGS
Recently, I came across a quote I never saw before by Richard Brautigan. “Sometimes life is merely a matter of coffee and whatever intimacy a cup of coffee affords.”
Pre-COVID I may not have appreciated this as much as I do now. It is strange how many times I am talking to someone about an anniversary, cruise, or party and I emphasize this happened before COVID. Life has a definitive line- before and after COVID.
For the first time at age 69, I realize why my parents talked so much about the depression. The bottom dropped out of their world as they knew it just as ours has with COVID and the results of this horrible pandemic.
I am not enumerating all the ways life has changed, because we know them already. But I want to mention one thing I have learned – Gratitude.
I love flavored coffee and cream, and anyone who is in my home is offered a large choice of different kinds of both. Nothing makes me happier than curling up with a cup of coffee and a book or newspaper. Or lingering in restaurants over a cup of coffee rather than a heavy dessert after a nice dinner, and chatting with friends.
Probably one of the things I missed the most after COVID was not sharing coffee with other people. I was forced to drink it alone every day. Also, I have a three-season patio, and since the shutdown occurred in the cold days of March, I couldn’t even savor a cup outside while watching the sun or rain.
Once we were opened up partially, I realized I could sit outside on a patio at a restaurant and do social distancing. I could be on my patio at home again. One of my favorite spots is to be outside at Starbucks sipping my coffee with the sun shining down on Sita and me.
COVID has forced me, along with many others, to appreciate the little things. No longer am I thinking about my next cruise, my next vacation, my next plane ride to visit relatives, and I mourn that. I still can’t get together with my beloved church family for pot luck and coffee or go into restaurants and linger.
But, I am also not forced to drink coffee alone inside during dreary winter days. I can be outside and love it. I know full well when winter comes it will be extremely difficult once more. I am hopeful a medical intervention will be found soon.
COVID has forced us to appreciate the little things. I have used coffee to demonstrate what I have learned to love, but each of us has special things we savor. There are so many others I can mention, ranging from Zoom visits with family and friends, to e-mails, letters and phone calls when we are unable to visit, to learning to be alone with a good book. Meanwhile, we all enjoy what we have, even small things like a cup of coffee, a letter from a friend, or a phone call from a family member. After a vaccine gives us more freedom, I know we will appreciate the little things more. My parents never forgot. They knew how to save money by gardening for food, sewing our clothes and saving for a rainy day. They also reached out during the depression days and helped their neighbors when hungry and desperate. They kept and reused everything, which made cleaning out their houses interesting for us kids! These are all lessons we can use today.
The Bible reminds us about being thankful in “O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.” 1 Chronicles 16:34 (NRSV). Sometimes we need to learn this the hard way! And we have!