One of my favorite cartoons growing up was “The Jetsons”. I never imagined that at some time in my lifetime, I would be living a Jetson’s life style. 98% of my interactions are now through a screen, or a mobile telephone. Today I had a class on Zoom all day. Well, there are healthy breaks, thank goodness!
I seem to remember watching Judy Jetson, the teenager, chatting on the screen with her friends. Even as a kid, I thought how lonely it would be to have to talk with my friends through a television screen. I really miss face to face interactions. I understand why… but I miss them. And with the news today, and more revelations about the virus, I believe I better settle in for a while to this way of interacting.
In a recent support group gathering of Spiritual Care leaders, one of my colleagues identified himself as an extrovert and expressed how exhausting all the Zoom meetings and worship are for him… because he truly wants to be with the people. And he signed up to accompany people in person; not staging what now feels like a production. Of course he expressed some good things happening despite the new way of interacting… AND.. the grief and longing still exist.
One thing that I realize fits my “keeping up with the Jetson’s” lifestyle… I have a robot vacuum. it’s name is not Rosie and it doesn’t do much else but oh my, I am kind of hooked… being able to work and type while the floors are vacuumed. It’s like magic… I go back in the room it was set to vacuum and, yowsah… it’s clean as a whistle!
Another memory of The Jetson’s; I always wondered how did it get to be that way… their life; the flying cars, the robot maid, the dome houses in the air, the dissociated way of interacting. Now as an adult I ponder our current situation and the dissociated way of interacting.
And then, a friend who is going to the grocery store that has two specific spices I love; lets me know she is going to that store, and will get those two items for me and drop them on my doorstep. And my world seems connected in a lovely way… a new way.
So, I don’t have a dog named Astro… yet. We shall see.
Tonights Prayer is “A Night Prayer” from A New Zealand Prayer Book
Lord, it is night. The night is for stillness. Let us be still in the presence of God. It is night after a long day. What has been done has been done; what has not been don has not been done; let it be. The night is dark. Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives rest in you. The night is quiet. Let the quietness of your peace enfold us, all dear to us, and all who have no peace. The night heralds the dawn. Let us look expectantly to a new day, new joys, new possibilities. In your name we pray. Amen.
Originally Published to Facebook on April 17th, 2020 at https://www.facebook.com/creativecarolcelebrant/posts/154389842717882
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