We Thought That This Would Last

You’ve seen the news stories by now, they are various in their emphasis, but they run on the same theme. These are the stories of sudden separation due to the restrictions brought about by the response to the current pandemic.

I saw a story last night on CTV news about family members unable to visit their loved ones in care facilities. One man who looked to be in his late 50’s or early 60’s visited his wife in a care facility everyday. She suffers from early onset dementia. The story contained an older video clip of the husband and wife in the hall of the care home. She was in a wheelchair. He was kneeling down beside the chair and she was reaching out with her hand, stroking his face. She was non-verbal, but she seemed to know him by this touch.
This past week, when the husband went to visit, he sat in a chair outside the home and a worker with a mask on brought out an iPad for him. He spoke into it, trying his best, but you could see from the image on the screen that his wife did not grasp at all what was going on or even who he was.

What have you lost in this time?
It helps in a way to name the loss.

There are grandparents who are feeling great sorrow over not being able to visit their grandchildren. It might seem like this is nothing compared to greater suffering, but it is still a loss. It is real, and it can hurt like hell.

Make it a prayer;

Dear God;

I come to you now naming that which I have lost in this time. When I hear the words, “We thought that this would last”, I think about what I can so easily take for granted. I pray for those who are suffering these disconnections at this time. I ask you to guard my heart as I feel the loss in my life as well.

Help me to see what has not been lost. Help me to see what will be recovered.
There is so much for which to be grateful.
And Dear God, please grant your blessing to those who don’t or can’t understand the loss that they face. Grant your peace to those who wrestle with pain because their loved ones may not understand why things have changed so suddenly.
And Dear God, thank you for one another. I love that I am blessed to live this life with family and with friends and with familiar strangers.

Fill us with a hope for the future, even as we acknowledge the loss right now.
Amen.