Keep Calm and Sparkle On

I hate to tell you this, but I think it's time, and it's nice we've had all this time to lallygag aboot, but the time has arrived, children:
WE ! ARE ! THE GROWN-UPS ! IN THE ROOM !
it's not that they left, they're just all gone.

DON'T ! WATCH ! THE NEWS !
there is NOTHING helpful there, just unsustainable HYSTERIA.

Know what? as of [THIS MORNING] [X] number of people have the virus and [X] number of people in [INSERT YOUR TOWN HERE] have died.

Science tells us those numbers are going to increase.
Got it.
I don't need Mika or Ainsley breathlessly reporting how death and destruction are beating at my door.

Do you know how LARGE the United States is?
Italy is about the same size as California.
Italy is about 15 days behind us on this curve.

ALL the numbers are going to sound ENORMOUS eventually because the U.S. is ENORMOUS compared to all the other places on the planet.
China is about our size, but they they have about 1.1 billion people more than we do. They're also about three months ahead in this virus than we are.

The numbers are going to climb through about June, if the scientists are correct.

You wanna keep that hysteria up for three more months?
Cut the news off. Watch The Golden Girls.

Then the virus may go to sleep until the fall, and it might just come back again, so all the prep were doing is exactly what we're supposed to be doing.

Know what we can do as children of The Way?

Know what we can do as children of The Spirit?

Let's be the ones who maintain the peace.

Let's be the ones who encourage breathing.

Let's be the ones who spread beauty and joy and kindness and empathy, but let's not participate in hysteria, let's not point out The Lack 'cause things are in motion to supply the lack, which is still going to be there.

There are going to be things we can do ... there are hospitals asking us to SEW EASY SEW PERFECT ! masks and gowns, there's something.

What we can also do is #StayHome to #FlattenTheCurve.

and p.s., I know the Daily Office is often a drag. I know the Daily Office is often repetitive. But so is brushing your teeth, and eeew, you need to do that, and we need to hit those Hours.

PLEASE try Father Chip's morning prayer.** There are beautiful flutes and herons and guitars and wind chimes, and he places musical queues so that you can consistently mediate on the prayers, on the rhythm, on The Word, and allow all the blessings of The Holy Spirit to pour in to you so that you can breathe them out in to the world.

I loves ya, honey, I loves ya. Now let's get TO it and DO it !

Carry on. xoxo


** p.s.,  If you use third-party apps to play it on roku, firestick, your Droid or other phone device, just search "Morning Prayer from The Episcopal Church in Garrett County" and also HERE: http://bit.ly/1IEVxZc on the right-hand side is a link to a stand-alone, non-specific Morning Prayer audio file which plays in your browser, along with noontime prayer and compline. It takes about 20 minutes. It's so lovely and Father Chip's voice is so soothing with the flute and strings behind him. (p.s., it's also where I get the queue: "let us BLESS ! the lord!")