It is the beginning of May. The last day that my place of business was open was Friday, March 13th. This morning I turned in my last assignment for the online course I've been taking the last two months. While at home, I've been practicing, participating in virtual ensembles, and preparing for workshops that I am leading later this summer. And I've been riding my bike and walking around the neighborhood so that I don't become permanently attached to my easy chair! But we've also been watching Netflix and Disney+ and spending a lot of time on Facebook and Zoom gatherings; reading books and playing Sudoku, etc.
But it's not the same as interacting with co-workers on a daily basis and planning rehearsals for my musical ensembles. Some days my brain just fells like slush and I get barely anything accomplished. Other days my brain goes on overdrive and tries to figure everything out.
This week our governor laid out some guidelines for 're-opening' the state. And it made me start wondering...
Will we continue to wear face masks when we go back to work? Could that be the real reason people started to wear face coverings? If you live a dessert area you would want to cover your mouth and nose so that you can breathe without inhaling sand. And if you are the one in charge of taking care of the children, the elderly, and the sick, again, you would want to have your face covered so that you don't get sick yourself and you don't spread germs. And since we know personal hygiene wasn't the same back then (I'm sure everyone didn't brush their teeth every morning), it would be a little nicer if there was a barrier between faces!
Same thing with gloves. You wore gloves to keep your hands clean when out and about. When you got home, you took off your gloves so that you didn't bring the grime of the outside world into your home.
So many of the ancient 'laws' were really just guidelines about how to stay healthy, but people wouldn't listen, and so the guidelines became laws. That's why keeping a Kosher kitchen came about - keeping your food dishes separate to avoid cross contamination.
We talk about common sense - and how it doesn't always seem "common". People want to do what they want to do, in spite of common sense. Therefore, someone gets fed up with the lack of common sense, makes it a law and mandates that everyone does this thing. But people still just go ahead and do what they want to do. Sometimes they get arrested - sometimes laws get changed.
There are even laws about the Sabbath - basically a day of rest, respect, and reflection. A time to take a break and NOT work, but appreciate all that you have in your life. But since people don't like to be told what to do, they decided that observing the Sabbath was not a good idea and they could do what they want, whenever they want, with whatever they want.
And sometimes worldwide pandemics break out. And everybody blames everybody else. And more laws get passed that probably should just be guidelines.
But . . .
Have you noticed that the earth is enjoying our enforced Sabbath? The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner. Because we have been forced to sit back and rest and reflect, we are allowing our bodies and minds and environments to heal. And maybe a day of 'slushy' thinking is just your brain letting go of all the unnecessary stuff that you've been clogging it with.
I do want to get back to work and to interacting with my co-workers and friends. But I don't want to go back to my old normal.
I want to make a new normal where I go to work, but I remember to celebrate the Sabbath. I want to go out to eat again, but continue making homemade bread for my family. I want to take the time to enjoy this beautiful earth and my family and friends.
I want to celebrate the blessings and leave behind the mess!
But it's not the same as interacting with co-workers on a daily basis and planning rehearsals for my musical ensembles. Some days my brain just fells like slush and I get barely anything accomplished. Other days my brain goes on overdrive and tries to figure everything out.
This week our governor laid out some guidelines for 're-opening' the state. And it made me start wondering...
Will we continue to wear face masks when we go back to work? Could that be the real reason people started to wear face coverings? If you live a dessert area you would want to cover your mouth and nose so that you can breathe without inhaling sand. And if you are the one in charge of taking care of the children, the elderly, and the sick, again, you would want to have your face covered so that you don't get sick yourself and you don't spread germs. And since we know personal hygiene wasn't the same back then (I'm sure everyone didn't brush their teeth every morning), it would be a little nicer if there was a barrier between faces!
Same thing with gloves. You wore gloves to keep your hands clean when out and about. When you got home, you took off your gloves so that you didn't bring the grime of the outside world into your home.
So many of the ancient 'laws' were really just guidelines about how to stay healthy, but people wouldn't listen, and so the guidelines became laws. That's why keeping a Kosher kitchen came about - keeping your food dishes separate to avoid cross contamination.
We talk about common sense - and how it doesn't always seem "common". People want to do what they want to do, in spite of common sense. Therefore, someone gets fed up with the lack of common sense, makes it a law and mandates that everyone does this thing. But people still just go ahead and do what they want to do. Sometimes they get arrested - sometimes laws get changed.
There are even laws about the Sabbath - basically a day of rest, respect, and reflection. A time to take a break and NOT work, but appreciate all that you have in your life. But since people don't like to be told what to do, they decided that observing the Sabbath was not a good idea and they could do what they want, whenever they want, with whatever they want.
And sometimes worldwide pandemics break out. And everybody blames everybody else. And more laws get passed that probably should just be guidelines.
But . . .
Have you noticed that the earth is enjoying our enforced Sabbath? The air is cleaner. The water is cleaner. Because we have been forced to sit back and rest and reflect, we are allowing our bodies and minds and environments to heal. And maybe a day of 'slushy' thinking is just your brain letting go of all the unnecessary stuff that you've been clogging it with.
I do want to get back to work and to interacting with my co-workers and friends. But I don't want to go back to my old normal.
I want to make a new normal where I go to work, but I remember to celebrate the Sabbath. I want to go out to eat again, but continue making homemade bread for my family. I want to take the time to enjoy this beautiful earth and my family and friends.
I want to celebrate the blessings and leave behind the mess!
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