True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us. - James 1:27
By Erynne DeVore
It has been really fun to see so many of you (well, see your eyes above those masks!) as you’ve come into St. John for worship the last few weeks. I think it goes without saying that there is certainly something about being in person that feeds our souls in ways virtual experiences can’t. One may or may not necessarily be better or worse than another; they’re just different.
For those of you who don’t know me, I was lucky enough to work with the kiddos and families at St. John for nearly four years and served as a part-time employee and volunteer for years before that. In December I resigned in order to attend an accelerated nursing program. Nursing was something that I was always equally both intrigued and intimidated by. I loved the relationship building, advocacy, education, and caring for the vulnerable that ministry entailed, and for a long time I considered a few career paths (ministry, counseling, law, nursing …) that would encompass those, and for many reasons ultimately settled on nursing. One of the things that appealed to me about nursing was it not only incorporated the things I just mentioned, but has clear evidence-based practices with a commitment to continually research and potentially change practices based off of that research. (What can I say, having clear protocols serves my anxious oldest child type A personality). Nursing has what brings fulfillment and joy to my soul, and satisfaction to my brain and professional being. Both/and.
It seems like we are in a similar both/and space right now. We need the in-person connection and relationship building that being in community brings, and we need to stay safe from COVID-19 with evidence-based practices. We know more than we did 19 months ago when this nightmare began, but we still don’t know enough for many of us to feel safe trusting the recommended practices. I get it. It’s a scary time, and we are still processing the trauma from the beginning of the pandemic. Two things stand out to me when thinking about this:
One, our society is so quick to rush back to “normal.” Again, I get it. We know normal. Normal feels safe. But if we don’t process and heal emotionally from the trauma of not knowing if any of us were safe or would live through this pandemic, while trying to homeschool and learn Zoom and pay the bills, we will not be able to connect in the way that our very beings are designed to connect. It is our job as Jesus followers to recognize the outside world’s desire to go back to “normal”, and to challenge it. Was it really that normal to begin with? What did we learn from the pandemic? Let’s not forget it.
Second, while the practices will evolve as science and research evolves, we have a pretty good idea of what will help. Hand washing. Masks. Staying home while sick. Vaccines. It is with trusting that science, trusting my research, and trusting health experts more educated than I that I am incredibly anxious to be able to get my children vaccinated. Additionally, I was able to participate in vaccine clinics as a part of my nursing clinical hours. They have been my very favorite clinical experiences so far. It was the both/and of nursing for me. When the vaccines first were being discussed, I was extremely hesitant. I did not want to be a guinea pig, and even more than that, I did not want my children to be guinea pigs. Luckily, research tells us we are not guinea pigs. The vaccine is the strongest tool in our tool box that will help us get back to the good, connecting, in person, pre-COVID normal. (And let’s work together to dismantle the power imbalances that were highlighted during 2020 to make sure those things are never considered normal again.)
We are a both/and people. We need each other, in person. It is important to our mental, emotional, and spiritual health. And, we need to keep ourselves and our children and each other safe from this virus that does not discriminate. We have the tools to do both, and thank God for that.
Contact Erynne at edevore1@uprovidence.edu