Pandemic by Rev. Lynn Ungar

What if you thought of it as the Jews consider
the Sabbath- the most sacred of times?
Cease from Travel.
Cease from buying and selling.
Give up, just for now, on trying
to make the world different than it is.
Sing. Pray, Touch only those
to whom you commit your life.
Center down, and when your body becomes still,
reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways terrifying and beautiful.
(You could hardly deny it now.)
Know that our lives are in one another’s hands.
(Surely that has come clear.)
Do not reach out your hands.
Reach out your heart.
Reach out your words.
Reach out your tendrils of compassion
that move, invisibly, where we cannot touch.
Promise your world your love-
for better or worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we shall live.

Reverend Lynn Ungar