COVID-19 Resources
Face coverings are not required in our buildings at this time. However, if you have a cough or are feeling ill, we recommend wearing a mask while being near others.
Hand sanitizer is still available at entrances for the comfort and safety of everyone.
Resources
Prayer for a Pandemic
By Cameron Bellm
May we who are merely inconvenienced remember those whose lives are at stake.
May we who have no risk factors remember those most vulnerable.
May we who have the luxury of working from home remember those who must choose between preserving their health or making their rent.
May we who have the flexibility to care for our children when their schools close remember those who have no options.
May we who have to cancel our trips remember those that have no safe place to go.
May we who are losing our margin money in the tumult of the economic market remember those who have no margin at all.
May we who settle in for a quarantine at home remember those who have no home.
As fear grips our country, let us choose love.
During this time when we cannot physically wrap our arms around each other, let us yet find ways to be the loving embrace of God to our neighbors.
Amen.
Prayer shared by Barb Rand
Pandemic.
A poem 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 has become still, reach out with your heart.
Know that we are connected
in ways that are 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 all the tendrils
of compassion that move, invisibly,
where we cannot touch.Promise this world your love–
for better or for worse,
in sickness and in health,
so long as we all shall live.
Poem shared by Cathy Smith
Fr. Richard Hendrick, OFM
Lockdown –
Yes there is fear.
Yes there is isolation.
Yes there is panic buying.
Yes there is sickness.
Yes there is even death.
But,
They say that in Wuhan after so many years of noise
You can hear the birds again.
They say that after just a few weeks of quiet
The sky is no longer thick with fumes
But blue and grey and clear.
They say that in the streets of Assisi
People are singing to each other
across the empty squares,
keeping their windows open
so that those who are alone
may hear the sounds of family around them.
They say that a hotel in the West of Ireland
Is offering free meals and delivery to the housebound.
Today a young woman I know
is busy spreading fliers with her number
through the neighbourhood
So that the elders may have someone to call on.
Today Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and Temples
are preparing to welcome
and shelter the homeless, the sick, the weary
All over the world people are slowing down and reflecting
All over the world people are looking at their neighbours in a new way
All over the world people are waking up to a new reality
To how big we really are.
To how little control we really have.
To what really matters.
To Love.
So we pray and we remember that
Yes there is fear.
But there does not have to be hate.
Yes there is isolation.
But there does not have to be loneliness.
Yes there is panic buying.
But there does not have to be meanness.
Yes there is sickness.
But there does not have to be disease of the soul
Yes there is even death.
But there can always be a rebirth of love.
Wake to the choices you make as to how to live now.
Today, breathe.
Listen, behind the factory noises of your panic
The birds are singing again
The sky is clearing,
Spring is coming,
And we are always encompassed by Love.
Open the windows of your soul
And though you may not be able
to touch across the empty square,
Sing.
Prayer shared by Barb Rand
A collection of podcasts and poetry for however you’re processing or experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic.
- New book encourages children to take low-tech adventures
- New children’s book explores the refugee’s experience
- Time Magazine for Kids – Free – Click here
- Free Meteorology Classes – Click here
- PE Classes online – Click here
- Free Middle School Math Lessons – Click here
- FREE Online Art Classes for Children – Click here
- Comprehensive List Of Education Companies Offering FREE Subscriptions Due To School Closings – Click here
- COVID-19: School’s Out! – Click here
- Homeschooling Support – Click here
- Scholastic: Learn at Home – Click here
- Ways to keep kids busy during these social distancing times
- Veggie tales on YouTube (find a video that goes with this week’s scriptures)
- Illustrated Ministry (free weekly faith resources for children of all ages)
- Resources for Families with Children
- BREATH PRAYERS with John Kiemele – Click here
- Ways to Pray – Click here
- Presbyterian Outlook: Weekly Lenten Devotional – Click here
- PCUSA Daily Prayer App – Click here
- d365 daily devotional App – Click here
- Lenten Devotional – Matthew 25 and Sermon on the Mount
Don’t panic about shopping, getting delivery or accepting packages
