Report from the Porch

Sunday morning. A line of thunderstorms yesterday afternoon broke through the heat and humidity to usher in a welcome front of cool crisp air. This morning I sit outside on the porch happily bundled in watch cap, down vest and blanket.

The highlight of our day yesterday was going to Trader Joe’s. It was around four after the storm went through and since we have tried to avoid shopping as much as possible we were increasingly low on frozen food, bread, vegetables, peanut butter and many of the other things we like to eat. I suggested we call TJ’s and head over if it wasn’t mobbed. The nice guy on the phone kindly informed me that the store is always fairly quiet due to occupancy limits, that there is pretty much always a line outside these days, but it was now a short line and moving quickly.

COVID-19 is taking a back seat these days. News media is now stacking stories of protests and racism and potential reform way ahead of the now familiar pandemic updates on confirmed cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Voices warn of the viral dangers of gathering in the streets en mass, but the continuing protests seem to be at the leading edge of a shift in how we think of justice, equality and safety in the country.

Or so I hope.

Discussions of de-funding police as part of a new safety and justice movement are gaining traction with some political leaders and seem to have strong support with many. George Floyd’s killing and the subsequent protests have raised awareness of the systematic brutality of the policing we had thought was here to protect us. I suppose the police have done a good job in protecting a number of us, but we’re beginning to see more clearly that ‘us’ has been limited by the color of our skin, our zip code and our socio-economic status.

I’m still angered by how Bob Kraft, the owner of our beloved Tom Brady-less Patriots, managed to avoid all consequences even after he was caught on video engaging in sex with a woman he then paid for her services. Apparently being very wealthy means you are exempted from the laws that are supposed to hold us all equally to standards of justice, fairness and protection. And this difference is nothing compared to difference between the protections afforded a well-educated and comfortably well-off white man and the constant danger to body and person facing people of color.

But the focus yesterday afternoon as the peaceful protests were continuing in Worcester and across the world, was our shopping list, masks and gloves. We waited ten minutes in the carefully demarcated six-foot distanced line, then went into the store with two shopping carts and a plan. Everyone was masked and most everyone followed the one-way signs for the aisles. We filled our two shopping carts with alacrity and were out within 20 minutes. Grateful for the bounty we gathered and grateful for the financial resources to afford such a large shopping.

We’re still not meeting in person here at the Temple. We’re being cautious and waiting to see how the next two weeks go. As we take the beginning steps toward re-entry (restaurants open in Massachusetts tomorrow for outdoor dining) and people gather so closely and chant so passionately, will we see another spike in COVID-19?

Sometimes it seems clear where we’re going, often it is not. But the direction of practicing being present in this moment is a reference point through it all. As we meet what we encounter both in the internal and in the external world, we vow to respond with as much compassion, courage and wisdom as we are able. And we have to trust and pray that this is enough for now.

Personal Practice – Today is the traditional sabbath day of the Christian tradition—a day originally set aside for rest and worship. Given the current circumstances of your life, what would rest and worship look like for you today? There may be old traditions you have forgotten that might be nourishing to enact in some new way. And there may be new practices – little or big – that you enjoy experimenting with on the clear and cool late spring day.