“Do not lose your inner peace for anything what so ever, even if your whole world seems upset”.  These are the words of St. Francis de Sales who was the Bishop of Geneva.  He was most noted for his deep faith and gentle approach to the religious divisions that were taking place in his land resulting from the Protestant Reformation.  I don’t know about you, but his words struck a real homerun with me in regards to the current pandemic happening around us today.   My whole world does feel upset and in some state of chaos.   I feel like everything from my daily routine, which is certainly no longer routine, to the loss of physical connections with my kids, grandchildren and friends is heartbreaking.  And then there’s this issue of what will we eat today, which is based on how much of our curbside grocery order will be filled when we are finally able to pick it up.  Amongst all this angst is the added fear and concern for what the spreading of the virus will bring upon us.  How much longer will it be necessary for us to shelter in place and if you’re like me, over 65, could be a year!!!

So yes, in St. Francis de Sales words, the whole world does seem to be “upset”.  It is this fear of the unknown that is generating this feeling of upset.  Days, weeks and months have passed without a cure, antidote, or vaccine on the near horizon.  I continue to watch the numbers rolling around on graphs of how many more are infected; how many have died; how many more will become sick and how many more will become seriously ill.  Businesses are shuttering their doors; people are losing their jobs and families are wondering how will get through this time of not only fear of the unknown, but economic instability.  So when I read the words, “do not lose your inner peace”, I’m like, what does that even mean?

I don’t know about you, but I’ve read hundreds of sayings and postings while scrolling through Facebook and various other sites that I’m sure they are meant to make me feel better.  I’ve watched all sorts of videos indicating that this too shall pass.  But they still don’t answer the question of when, but rather they continue to promote what you need to do to protect yourself, such as wash your hands and hundreds of comments on what to do with those groceries when you finally get them into the house.  This entire media blitz proclaims words or pictures that I struggle to embrace when all I can feel is fear, doubt and worry.  Day by day the only thing that changes is that greater numbers keep replacing the ones from the day before.  The days needed to quarantine, shelter at home and stay safe keep getting extended.  And when thoughts of opening everything back up are mentioned, a chill runs down my back wondering what that will bring.

But then somewhere in the midst of all those words scrolling by, I stumbled onto a quote from St. Catherine of Sienna, “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.”   I stared at the words on the page for some time and kept rereading them; “Without much enduring”.  As I pondered her words, I thought to myself, well, we are certainly enduring much in this time of great upset.  Could it be that great things are already happening and I just haven’t bothered to notice?

With all these thoughts in mind, I think it’s time for me to take those words to heart and focus on the positive things that are possible during this time of confinement.  I need to start changing my focus.   There are a lot more productive things to be doing with my time while I’m sheltering in place than just scrolling through my phone, laptop and computer, reading and rereading the same information like a scene from the movie, Groundhog Day.  Maybe now is a time for me to think harder about the, “nothing great is ever achieved”, part and double down on those words.  As St. Teresa of Avila says, “Have courage for whatever comes in life, everything lies in that.  Let nothing frighten you.  Who has God lacks nothing.  God alone is enough.”  Again, focus on the words; “let nothing frighten you.”

So with these words in mind,  here’s what I have decided to do first, in the words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians, “Pray without ceasing.”  I can pray all day; while I’m doing my daily tasks around the house, in the car picking up those long awaited groceries and while preparing meals.  I can even have reflective prayer while reading, as I like to have some reflective/prayer music playing in the background while I get lost in my current book.  Sometimes I find the need for a rote prayer to recite when I’ve come to a complete desert and have zero thoughts or words of my own.  On these occasions of void, I turn to Catholic.org for a list of spiritual prayers.  I’m always shocked by how many different types of prayers available.  They seem to always have just what I need when I need it.  Relevant Radio is another great site that has devoted a whole page to prayer and the Pandemic.  I’m finding that all these different types of prayers are helping me get out of the desert.  I’ve had the blessing of several people suggesting that I try finding time for meditation in my life.  It’s been a wonderful experience when I’ve been successful at it and maybe you’re ready to go a little deeper and would like to give it a try.  The calm serenity that mediation provides is like a jump start to feeling peaceful and more positive.   The Catholic News Agency has a helpful site for getting started and it offers a plethora of information in regards to adding this practice into your daily life.   I have found that prior to bedtime and early morning are both great times for meditation.  But now during this time of quarantine, there’s actually any time!  There are also many meditations to listen to on the internet rather than the current gloom videos I had been watching.  Give it a try; it just might bring some new found peace to you also.  While on the subject of prayer, now is a good time to aspire to increase my knowledge about God.  There are hundreds/thousands of books about God, prayer, faith and so much else.  The best part is that a lot of them are free or very inexpensive.  I have no excuse!

Secondly, I can do more to reach out and follow in the steps of Christ to others, family, friends and neighbors.  I recently spent some great time with my granddaughter teaching her a new knitting stitch over the internet with the use of a Facebook Portal.   This is a great piece of technology if you’re looking to connect with family from a distance.  While knitting we had time to talk and share stories about school, family and so many other things.  Finding ways to connect with people and still social distance has been a gift from God and certainly great.  I can’t physically be with people now, but my phone works!  Phone carriers say voice calls have raised over 50% since this time of “upset” began.  I can talk to those who might be feeling alone and worried like me. It’s funny how talking to someone about the things that are heavy on our hearts will make us feel better.

The art of letter writing is also making a comeback and since the post office is an essential business, we can still receive and send mail.  There is nothing like getting a card or letter from someone with an encouraging note, well wishes or just that they are thinking about me.  I picked up a couple of books of stamps and now I’m all set.

I’ve tried to discover who I know that works in a hospital and then reach out to them and thank them for this amazing sacrifice they are making each day, maybe even send food to the nurse’s station at our local hospital.  Where there’s a will there’s a way is my saying in terms of finding workable solutions to reaching out to those who need us. And if you’re like me, it helps to continue to be in contact with people.

My friend Ceil  is making face masks and she’s been really busy now that they’ve required them in Travis County.  I remembered I had stored a lot of fabric in my attic when we moved here, so off I went in search of material and in a matter of hours I had started my own assembly line of face mask sewing. Should you get involved with this project there are lots of places looking for your completed masks.  Ceil commented that she says a little prayer with each mask for whoever ends up wearing it that God will protect them.  “Prayer and accomplishing something great” I believe St. Catherine suggested.  I soon discovered that during all this activity I continued to feel more positive, felt like I was following in the words of Christ, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 12:45.  I also don’t have time to just scroll anymore!  Thank you God.

Thirdly, you can learn a new skill.  I try to find things that will bring me joy as well as joy to others and in this spirit it will help me feel like doing more.   My friend Denise has decided to learn to make sourdough bread!    I’m looking forward to the day when we can finally break bread together again.  There are hundreds of web classes being offered during this time in case you are feeling techy.  Several of my friends wanted to have a gathering on Zoom, so I pulled up the site and started to learn what I needed to make this happen.  Now we have meetings once a week on Zoom.  My husband is teaching his Bible class on Zoom, our book club is meeting on Zoom and our by-weekly prayer group has moved to Zoom.  We’ve even learned how to add new backgrounds, create separate rooms for groups, and all sorts of fun icons.  Amazing and great!  Maybe learning a new language has always been in your thoughts, well there’s lot information on learning new skills that are just a click away.  Scrabble is my favorite as you can play with friends and keeps my mind sharp, hopefully.  Not ready to go that deep, then maybe some fun things like Catholic puzzles from Catholic.com.  Now might be the time to put together those pictures for generational purposes.  Create a legacy of information and pictures for your children and grandchildren.  Or maybe just take some time and enjoy visiting the National Gallery of Art.  Enjoy the creative work of amazing artists and maybe say a little prayer while you’re viewing the great artwork.

And fourthly, if you’d like to support other organizations during this time, the list is growing every day.  Check out the Washington Post for a long list of places needing support in all various ways.  You might just come up with an idea of your own while perusing this long list.

Through all of this I have learned that I am not limited in what I can do but rather only limited by my ability not to think about it and just do it!  Many resources are at my disposal through technology, reading, movies and etc.  I know only too well how quickly time passes and at the end of this “upset” the question I will need to ask myself is:  what kind of greatness have I strived for or did I just continue to scroll?

Putting my faith in God to handle what I can’t and to just “do it” is the only way that my stress and fear will be conquered.  With those words of St. Catherine of Sienna emblazoned in my mind, I’m going to continue to endure and maintain my inner peace through my relationship with God and not let the news of the world shake my faith.  I’m surrendering to God all the fear, doubt and worry of the world and then I’ll be free to work towards great things while enduring the “upset” world.

Now let’s all enjoy some peaceful music from In the Presence