A Prayer for a Challenging Time

This has been a bad week for the SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Colorado.  Our infection rates were holding steady in the hundreds per day all summer into early fall, but by October 15th, the numbers surged to a thousand, and then by early November into many thousands with an all-time high of almost 6,500 cases in one day this past week! Sadly, our state is not alone in this dramatic rise in positive cases.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment devised a graphic dial to use as a gauge for each of our 64 counties to help us ascertain our risks. You can see that graph on this link.  My county is now in level orange--high risk--which came with new restrictions that can be seen on this graph. Many sources feel the increase of cases is due to these reasons: more time being spent indoors as our weather cools, increased small social gatherings of friends, neighbors, and families from different households.

Although schools were open for in-person instruction in most districts in Colorado since September, there were hardly any outbreaks at the primary grade level and just a few at the middle school, as strict mask-wearing precautions and social distancing methods were in adherence. High Schools and Colleges were not as fortunate, however, but it was felt that the reason was that students socialized in groups after school without wearing masks, etc.  As our Covid-19 infection numbers rise, most school districts at an orange level have now decided to close the schools and have all students learn remotely.

Our Thanksgiving buffet 2019

My family has made the decision not to gather together for Thanksgiving this year.  We will each have our own celebration in our own homes. We felt the only way to safely gather from other households would be for everyone to quarantine completely for two weeks, and, unfortunately, none of us can accomplish that. I have researched the possibility of all of us getting "rapid" Covid tests, but I found that the reliability of these tests for both false positives and negative results is too high to be reliable. It's very hard to think that we can't all be together this year but health is a priority. No one wants to believe that they could be infected by a family member but it happens, and often by someone who is asymptomatic. 

 Last November, our daughter had open-heart surgery to repair a heart valve a week before Thanksgiving and she stayed at our house for a while post-op after she was released from the hospital, as I am an RN and could monitor her progress. It would have been wonderful to celebrate the anniversary of her surgery and the fact that she is doing so well a year later.  We never could have dreamed of the challenges this year brought to us all!

But, although there are disappointments and changes in the usual routines and traditions, the most important thing right now is that we all stay healthy.  These days of staying home, and staying safe, are not without their positives aspects.  Slowing down and appreciating the smaller pleasures and gifts of each day, with a new focus on gratitude, can also be looked upon as an unexpected gift.

This poem was written long ago but is perfect for this time of worry about SARS-CoV-2 and the need to slow down and be careful, yet still savor all the social little moments in our days. I hope it will also bring peace to you, dear reader, as it has to me...

"Slow me down, Lord!

Ease the pounding of my heart

By the quieting of my mind.

Steady my harried pace

With a vision of the eternal reach of time.

Give me, amidst the confusions of my day,

The calmness of the everlasting hills.

Break the tensions of my nerves

With the soothing music of the sighing streams

That live in my memory.

Help me to know

The magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art

Of taking minute vacations of slowing down to look at a flower;

To chat with an old friend or to make a new one;

To pat a stray dog,

To watch a spider build a web;

To smile at a child;

Or to read a few lines from a good book.

Remind me each day

That the race is not always to the swift;

That there is more to life than increasing its speed.

Let me look upward

Into the branches of the towering oak

And know that it grew slowly and well.

Slow me down, Lord,

And inspire me to send my roots deep

Into the soil of life’s enduring values

That I may grow toward the stars

Of my great destiny."

~ prayer by Wilferd A. Peterson

Stay happy, safe, and healthy!

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