Part 2 of Corona-time: When You Do What You Can, You Do Enough

Clock at John Wesley's childhood home
The Old Rectory, Epworth

About a week ago, I wrote about different kinds of time and proposed the idea of corona-time as a way of describing the weird quality of our days spent under quarantine.  I quoted at length from a letter John Wesley wrote in 1785 to one of his itinerant preachers, not realizing he used the exact same phrase in a letter to Elizabeth Ritchie on August 19, 1784.

Elizabeth Ritchie was a highly respected Methodist class leader who had a profound experience of sanctification, and she later became the housekeeper at Wesley's home in London. That was a significant post because she was responsible not only for temporal matters but also for the spiritual well-being of the household. In that capacity, she led morning and evening prayer and examined the members of the "family" with regard to their growth in grace and holiness, offering spiritual direction and reproof if necessary.

She and Wesley corresponded frequently, and he encouraged her, challenged her, and supported her in her Christian journey. She often suffered from ill health, and Wesley, always interested in both spiritual and physical fitness, gave her medical advice, as well. In this letter, he expresses concern about another leader who seemed to have lost her way, and he exclaims,

I hope, my dear Betsy, this will never be your case! You will never leave off your labour of love; though you should not always  (not immediately at least) see the fruit of your labours...

A measure of zeal and activity is given to every one when [she or] he finds peace with God... Never abate anything in your diligence in doing good. Sometimes, indeed, the feeble body sinks under you; but when you do what you can, you do enough.

These are days in which everyone is sorely tested. Essential workers are afraid they aren't being protected enough, people isolated at home worry about getting back to work, and parents fret over the difficulty of teaching their children.  And clergy everywhere feel guilty or inadequate because they're suddenly expected to display mastery of all things technical, managing onscreen worship and Bible study, officiating at funerals via live-streaming, and serving as the IT person for parishioners who are struggling with computers and tablets, longing for connection.

There's a meme floating around Facebook right now suggesting that those sheltering at home should emerge from quarantine with either a new business plan, fluency in another language, or the great American novel. If you don't, according to the meme, you don't lack time, you lack discipline. That kind of guilt trip, nobody needs. Now more than ever is a time for extending grace to each other and grace to ourselves. None of us have lived the Covid-19 lifestyle before, and for some, just taking a shower and getting dressed is all they can manage.

If you're stressed out because you think you should be doing more, doing better, doing something every second of the day, take heart from those encouraging words from Wesley, and remember

When you do what you can, you do enough.

Corona-time: When You Do What You Can, You Do Enough

John Wesley's clock in the New Room, Bristol

Time is on everyone's mind right now. For some, it's a case of too much time on their hands; for others, there aren't enough hours in the day. And for others, time on this mortal coil has run out.

You may have heard that there are at least two different kinds of time: chronos and kairos.  Chronos is the kind that's marked in seconds and hours on watches and clocks; kairos is often called God's time, the appointed season in which the heavenly kingdom breaks in on earth for a moment or more.

I have discovered while living under quarantine that there's another kind of time, one you may also be experiencing. I call it corona-time.  My husband had a birthday a few weeks ago, and he completely forgot about it until I reminded him. I decided this lapse of memory was the direct result of living in corona-time.

Unless you are in a key or essential work position, your schedule likely bears little resemblance to your normal routine. You may be sleeping more or less than usual and perhaps not as well. You may be getting a crash course in how to teach your children while trying to figure out Zoom or other technology in order to meet or worship or simply to stay in touch with others. You may be wondering how, when, or if the cherished plans you made are going to come to fruition.

Worse still, you may be grieving because you can't say goodbye to a loved one near death or even because your own health has been affected adversely by the coronavirus.  The weight of uncertainty, the negative economic effects, the loss of a sense of control, the listlessness of feeling locked down, or the nagging fear of being exposed to the deadly disease -- all of these make a mockery of chronological time and can wreak havoc on your regular God-time. You may catch glimpses of God in action, but you may also find it hard to pray because you are scared or angry or confused because of living in corona-time. You may be celebrating Easter and Jesus's resurrection, but you may be worried about death a little closer to home. You may have a steady, calm sense from the Holy Spirit that no matter what, living or dying, all shall be well, but you may see that stack of bills and have no idea what you'll do about it.

On September 5, 1785, John Wesley wrote a letter of encouragement to one of his itinerant lay preachers, Thomas Wride. He opens with this simple yet effective word of advice -

When you do what you can, you do enough. 

Wesley being Wesley, before affectionately concluding the letter and sending love to Mrs. Wride, continued with well-intentioned admonitions for Thomas --

I trust you will now use every possible means of redeeming the time. I wish you would never neglect sleeping early and rising early. Beware of anything like lightness or trifling. Wherever you are be obliging and be serious. Disappoint those who wait for your halting. 

It's likely that Wesley would have filled every waking minute by exploring new ways to reach people with the gospel, chafing at enforced sheltering in place, and that he'd compose four new books, edit ninety hymns, write a dozen sermons, and experiment with potions and physic during a pandemic such as this.  But, being a reasonable man motivated by love, he would recognize the wisdom of staying put unless absolutely necessary, and he would perceive that it doesn't affect everybody the same way.

So I'm not going to tell you that you have failed quarantine if you don't emerge with a rough draft of a masterpiece or if you can't speak three new languages or if your kids don't understand the quadratic equation. I'm not going to compare your shaky videos shot from your kitchen table with the polished worship services of churches with million dollar budgets. I simply want to support you as you keep doing what you're doing, and I am praying for you every step of the way.

And remember, during the pandemic and always, when you do what you can, you do enough.

An Easter Like No Other

Today is Easter Sunday, an Easter unlike any other we have ever experienced. Like the first followers of Christ, we are scattered, anxious, uncertain, sheltering in place.  Like them, we can scarcely believe the shadows will ever be dispersed, that fear will ever be banished, that we will ever emerge from hiding.

And yet, we have heard the Risen Christ say that we are blessed, we who have not seen but still believe.  We are witnesses of his resurrection in ways different from theirs but in ways no less powerful or true.

In the tired faces of workers stocking shelves and cashiers ringing up groceries
In the gloved hands of nurses and doctors and medical personnel
In the bent backs of cleaners wielding mops against the invisible deadly foe
In the sermons and devotions and phone calls and social media outreach of loving pastors
In the simple act of love expressed just by staying home

In all of these

Christ is risen
Christ is among us
Christ is risen
The best of all is God is with us!

I am drawn to the greatest of Easter hymns this year (from our friend Charles Wesley) as I am every year, especially to words that are likely much less familiar to most of us.  These two lines are a strong, even defiant statement of fact and of hope in the very face of that which we fear most, the grave, and certainly in the face of Covid 19 --

Vain the Stone, the Watch, the Seal;
Christ hath burst the Gates of Hell!

And then later in another verse,

Thee we greet triumphant now,
Hail the Resurrection, thou!

Because

Into just such a world as ours, Jesus was born
At just such a time as this, Jesus still reigns over death and sin
For frightened sinners just like us
and for the mending of a broken creation, Christ Jesus poured out himself

And he is ours and we are his

Everlasting life is this

Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia!

Out of the Depths

Statue of John Wesley outside St. Pauls's, London

Methodists have a special fondness for what has come to be known as Aldersgate Day or Wesley Day.  It marks the anniversary of John Wesley's profound  experience of the assurance of his salvation, an occasion when his heart was "strangely warmed" while he was attending a meeting of people listening to someone read from Martin Luther's preface to the book of Romans.

The quietly dramatic account recorded in his journal has become almost legendary, a touchstone for his spiritual heirs to treasure.  But what is sometimes forgotten is that this encounter with the divine was preceded by other moments in which Wesley did what he always did, starting the day with private prayer and reading of scripture and culminating with public worship of God with others.

On May 24, 1738, John Wesley wrote in his journal :

In the afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul’s. The anthem was, “Out of the deep have I called unto Thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice. Oh, let Thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If Thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? For there is mercy with Thee; therefore shalt Thou be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption. And He shall redeem Israel from all his sins.”

The psalm from which the anthem came, Psalm 130, was one of the readings last week in the lectionary cycle from which I take my daily devotional.  I found myself repeating phrases from it over and over whenever I felt anxious about the uneasy state of affairs brought on by the global threat of covid 19.  "Out of the depths" we do indeed call unto God in a deeply unsettling time of waiting, of isolation, of business not at all as usual. 

St. Paul's, London

The upheaval caused by the pandemic has provoked a crisis of faith for many, vindicated the scorn of religion for some, and deepened the trust in God for others.  Fear for one's own health and for that of loved ones, fear for the economic well-being of the nation and of the world, and fear of the fallout for the weakest and most vulnerable are the order of the day. How wonderful, then, to have this and all the psalms of lament and complaint to help us form our prayers!  No need to aim at creativity; these ancient words perfectly echo the cries of our hearts from the seemingly bottomless depths of our despair!

There's lots of advice on how to understand what's happening and how to cope with the deprivations concomitant with it. Establishing a routine of sleep and outdoor exercise and good dietary habits while practicing the discipline of physical distancing are key to managing the stress. Faithfully and regularly reading scripture, praying, and worshiping with others via technology, and sensing the movement of the Spirit are equally essential. We're seeing the futility of trusting in ourselves alone for the fullness of life, and this presents us with the challenge of finding a different way forward.  There are those who say God is punishing us or getting our attention with this terrible illness. I reject that theology. God doesn't send plagues to teach us a lesson; God sends us Jesus, and his lesson is love.

And so, with Holy Week approaching, as we solemnly observe the passion of Christ while awaiting the joyous celebration of resurrection, we honestly yet trustingly wait for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning because we already know that the best of all is God is with us.