What do we do?

In which I give my first crack at answering the question I'm asked most these days

scene from a rainy Friday at work release

Hello from the last day of an endless January. Guess what? We’ve had a “new” President for less than two weeks but it feels like at least two months, maybe forty, and we’re all exhausted and unsure how to proceed.

I’ve written pretty extensively about the current political environment and I know not everyone here shares my concern. If you’re among those who don’t see the harm of it all, I want to thank you for sticking around and staying curious.

Earlier today, I made a snap decision and abandoned my work to attend Bible study at work release. It had been a while. These are a few of the things I heard/overheard/observed:

H: They put our pictures from the painting class (in the jail) on Facebook!

K: Did you look cute?

H: No! I looked like a whole inmate! (laughing)

And…

“I’ve been talking to T about what we can do to make this world more positive. We thought maybe a group from Holy Alliance could start doing service projects, like cleaning up the neighborhood.” - M

And then, piped in from a speaker in the ceiling…

“If you’re holding hands, stop immediately. We are watching you! No physical contact allowed. We are not playing games.” - Work Release Admin

(I guess I’m green, but until that moment, it hadn’t even crossed my mind that we were being surveilled, though it made total sense.)

We ventured into Mark chapter 12, where they left off last week, and Karen (on staff at the jail ministry - Cory keeps hiring my besties) jumped up, “Oh my gosh! I forgot I have figs in my car!” She ran out to grab them and passed them around. “They didn’t have fresh ones, so these are dried.” (Kelley would have been appalled - that’s all I could think about.)

Several people turned up their noses and Karen said, “Guys! Jesus was hungry for these!” which is still making me laugh. For what it’s worth, the guy to my left loved them and had seconds.

Somehow, though I didn’t really have the time, I knew there was nothing that mattered as much as driving the .5 mile to the place where so many of the people I care for live. I didn't say any. I was just there. I needed it. I’ll see some of them again on Sunday at Holy Alliance. I will see some of them Monday at lunch at The Window. A few of them seemed to be coming down with something (cue retroactive prayers for viral protection!) and I just can’t fathom being sick in a place like that. This is my community. I guess sometimes the things that feel the smallest or maybe even the most inconvenient are what we should consider orienting our lives around, especially right now.

We only get to do life once.

I think this ties into the questions leftover from last week’s AMA:

I’m scared and worried all the time now. What do I do?

How do we engage locally?

What are you currently reading?

So many of us are feeling anxious right now, for good reason. We are paying attention. We are grieving and embarrassed. Some of our relationships are suffering. We’re worried all the time. Hi, it’s me.

I understand most of us just want a break from the madness. I also know I might not be the one to provide that. (upside down smiley face, lol)

But I’ve found two things tremendously helpful over the past couple of weeks.