A friendship blossoms between ‘Honeybee and Nectarine’
May 19, 2021
Wednesday May 19th: Essential Workers
May 19, 2021
The silence in the streets with the implementation of the State of Emergency and curfew has not silenced the cacophony of sound emanating from social media, as persons postulate
§ Covid is real … or not
§ The vaccines cause mutation, will kill you
§ Open the borders and close the borders
§ Restaurants and bars should be open
§ Exercising outdoors is okay
§ Curfew 9-5 or 6-6
§ Venezuelan refugees or Trinis in Tobago during Easter are the cause of the spread
§ Prayer or action
§ The daily COVID statistics are false; not enough persons being tested
§ In public I can wear my mask on my chin
§ Physical distancing is not necessary; I can socialise and go to work until I receive my test results
But what really lies below and behind the chatter, the agitation, the non-compliant behaviour, the perceived indiscipline? Whatever your first answer was to that question, peel away again … and again … and again. Something tells me that if we do get to the root cause, the core of the onion, what we will expose are feelings of FEAR.
Why are we afraid of dying? Is it that we do not believe that we are “fully prepared” to die? Why are we afraid of losing loved ones? The reality is that “no-one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.”
What if in the meantime, the time between life and death (whenever that is), we sought to allay our fears and anxieties, by doing just what God calls us to do.
– Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
– Discern what we have been called to do in this life and fully live out our vocation.
– Be our brother’s keeper
– Love God above all; love our neighbours as ourselves
– Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.
It is tough in the middle of a pandemic to pause and reset our sails. However, I encourage us all to take incremental steps. Unpeeling the onion and naming the real emotion behind the behaviour is the first step. Overcoming fear requires presence,
faith and intentional action. Establish a sacred rhythm that allows you to be present, be grateful for what is and pray unceasingly.
Till we meet again, it’s Judy Joseph Mc Sween, Time Out Specialist, encouraging you to take a Time Out to acknowledge your fears and starve them while you feed your faith.
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
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