First Sunday Without Church

It’s a strange Sunday morning here in Worcester, MA. For the first time I’m aware of since the founding of this city in the 18^th century, most churches will be shuttered. Just here on Pleasant Street where I live in the Boundless Way Zen Temple, the Congregational, Episcopal, Catholic, and Quaker houses of worship have all joined us in closing their doors—today and for at least the next two weeks.

Like cities and towns across the country and across the world, Worcester is in a state of emergency. Public schools and libraries are closed, colleges have emptied out, and large gatherings are prohibited. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the city has been confirmed with five others awaiting testing. (The one confirmed case is related to the Biogen conference which has been the original flash-point here in Massachusetts.)

The last time I remember this level of public disruption and fear was right after the Boston Marathon bombing. At least one of the perpetrators was still at large and we were told to shelter in place. Though the likelihood of the terrorist coming to our particular door was virtually negligible, we were scared beyond measure. For three days, every time the doorbell rang, our hearts raced and we carefully inquired who it was before we opened the door.

The object of our fear is now a virus that operates at a much small and larger scale. Over the course of the next weeks and months, it is quite likely that despite our best efforts, many of us will become hosts for COVID-19. Most of us will be OK, even if we are infected, but this is not something to sneeze at. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist a little levity.) What we can all do now is to do what we can to limit and slow the spread of the virus as much as possible; to ‘flatten the curve*’ of the infection rate to insure the best chance for our medical infrastructure to cope with the medical needs of all.

Yesterday, on the phone with a friend, she suggested we start talking about ‘physical distancing’ rather than ‘social distancing.’ I think this is a good distinction. As we find our way into this now unfamiliar world of limited physical connection, it is more important than ever to stay in touch with each other and with the activities that ground us and bring us alive.

And since schools are closed, I will now take on the role of temporary teacher/life-coach and give everyone a homework assignment in two parts:

1) Reach out to someone you haven’t connected to in a while – call, send a text or an email – just to say ‘hi’ – just to remind us all of our fundamental interconnection, even and especially in this time of disruption.

2) Do some small thing for yourself today that you enjoy. Don’t take more than five minutes, but sit down with a cup of tea, wander in your garden to see what green miracles are emerging or just sit and listen to sounds of the world around you – do something that might delight you.

For extra credit: Virtually join us at Boundless Way Temple this (Sunday 3/15) evening via this Zoom link^:

6:45 – Gather, chat and see each other on the flat screen

7:00 – Chanting – led by Melissa and David (Boundless Way Zen Guiding Teachers)

7:30 – Silent meditation

8:00 – Dharma talk by David followed by a brief discussion

* The New York Times published a wonderful article on March 11 about this that explains the impact of the rate of spread on the intensity of the outbreak.

^ For more Boundless Way Zen Temple information go to our Facebook page or our Web Site.