Dear Ones,

Remember, we have suspended in-person worship and other meetings for the time being. 

It was wonderful to see so many of you at our virtual worship service on Zoom last Sunday! We will continue Zoom worship for the foreseeable future, though at some point Chris and I will be Zooming in with you from our homes rather than from the Fellowship Hall.

In my homily about the wisdom of Mister Rogers, I noted that one of the truly important things this TV show offered children was structure. The shows began and ended the same way, and what happened during the show followed a predictable pattern, or formula. Knowing what’s happening, and when, is important for children – and for adults! There are real reasons why we have seasonal celebrations – we’re marking time and its passing.

As we settle more fully into social distancing, it’s easy to feel isolated and even lose track of what day it is – even what time it is. The regular volunteer activity engaged in by many in this congregation is disappearing for a time. This can be disorienting. We know that losing our sense of time and place has an actual effect on the brain. For our physical and mental health, it’s important to remain grounded in time.

Rev. Sunshine Wolfe, who is on staff in the UUA Central East Region, offered some tips for staying grounded as we hunker down, which I’ve adapted here:

•    Create a physical or virtual calendar that marks significant moments in your country, state, and family. These could include moments with the virus and with your own life.
•    Draw a picture – or take a photo – of something in your day.
•    Create a personal schedule for your day.
•    If creating a whole schedule is difficult, try having just one thing that happens at a consistent time of day. This could be lunch, going for a walk, reading a poem (or a chapter in a book), doing a daily puzzle online, or calling a friend.
•    Do something that creatively connects you with this time, this place.

Tom and I are trying to do a daily walk around the abandoned Royal Pines golf course – the one that is really abandoned, and is now overgrown. While we don’t do it at a consistent time, just having it on the “to do” list for every day helps! I’ll post my “office hours” and general schedule elsewhere in this newsletter.

Remember, I love you. You are beloved and precious. We will get through this.

Blessings,
Rev. Lori Hlaban