Keeping Watch... and Giving Thanks

 

                         Grandma Anne's 88th birthday photo. I do not know who to credit for this photo. 

 Tonight, as I " keep watch" with the Pennsylvania McCarrens as Grandma navigates that sacred space between our temporal existence & the promise of a new, different way of being.  This prayer-- which happens to be my favorite nighttime prayer-- takes on a special meaning as it was prayed during online  Evening Prayer . 

        Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, Lord Christ; give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love's sake. Amen. ~~Evening Prayer, Rite 2 Book of Common Prayer

My dear grandmother is prepping to meet Jesus. I'm sad , but I know that Grandma will be happy, healthy & whole in this new existence that we Christians only glimpse into at the Communion rail. Soon, Grandma will take that final step into Communion with her LORD & Savior. This is a joyous occasion for her-- the body that she inhabited for 90 years will finally let her soul--- her essence-- free.

She'll finally meet this Jesus--- about Whom I'd not know a thing if not for her taking me to Mass when I was a small child. He will say' Well-done, good and faithful servant Anne. '

But meanwhile, COVID tide robs those of us who love Anne from celebrating her long life as she deserves. There will be a funeral Mass said a the Catholic church where she's been a faithful member for her entire adult life. A burial in the cemetery in Coylesville, PA will follow. Both events will be closed to the public and have only five of the six children in attendance. { A COVID ban keeps my Dad in Florida. }

Grandma is a nurse by profession and enjoyed a long career in the healthcare industry. She has spent her entire life in Butler County, PA and married a man from the same county. They have six children-- five of whom still live in the area near Grandma's house. Several of Anne's 15 adult grandchildren live in the area while others { such as myself} watch and wait from afar. Some of Grandma's six great-grandchildren are blessed enough to spend a little of time with her.

Love dictates that we stay safe and keep others safe. Grandma wouldn't want anyone to get sick.

So we watch and wait from afar. What angers me is that this long-distance wait and watch could have been avoided had COVID been corralled properly early in the pandemic. Yet here we are & I am on some excellent advice to look for the good in each day. Here we go:

~ No one in my immediate circle has fallen ill with COVID. My small contact trace has been clean thus far. Of the people I know who have caught it-- only one has died.

~ Early winter in Northwest Florida is beautiful. And, its an added bonus to be free of named storms for a few months.

~My spouse's heath has remained great. He impresses his doctors.

~Both my parents are alive & healthy. Middle age is when folx start losing parents.

~I have food, safe housing, and plenty of clothes to wear.

~We can pay our utility bill each month.

~ Our vehicle is paid for. So is our house.

~Even in the middle of a pandemic, my church family has remained Real, Rooted & Relevent .

~My Grandma Anne has been a part of my life for almost 45 years.

"Love Travels: even between the Now and the Hereafter.

Amen.

Sarah McCarren

8 Dec 2020