One of my personal goals through this time of  COVID-19 has been to not gain 50 pounds. Dorothy is an excellent cook. I am the designated grocery shopper since March. She has yet to go into a grocery store, which is a fair trade for all the good food she has prepared. Cooking three  meals a day for seemingly endless days became an enjoyable challenge for her, for a while. After a few weeks she decided that she wanted to do more with her days than figure out what to fix and eat three times a day. She cautiously went back to work two days per week. She implied that it might be helpful if I participated a little more fully in the meal preparation. Take out it is—now two or three times a week. 

I read recently about the Betty Crocker Cookbook making a comeback during these uncomfortable times. Chances are you are acquainted with the Big Red cookbook from your earliest days. While Betty Crocker has been the “face” of General Mills since the 1920’s, the cookbook with her name was first published in 1950. In that post-depression, post-war era, no one went out to dinner much at all. In fact, in those days one-third of a household income went to groceries. The genius of the cookbook was found in its explanation of how to prepare even the most complicated recipes in simple words and pictures. Comfort food found its glory in Betty Crocker. Dorothy got her first Betty Crocker cookbook while she was in junior high school. It was the big, bulky loose-leaf edition. We still have it, though it has been put away for safe keeping. 

I have managed to keep my weight the same through these days. Dorothy always cooks healthy, with lots of fruit, salads, and vegetables. Smaller servings of heavier meals does the trick and gives us left-overs to enjoy it all longer. Eating at home is healthier than eating out all the time. It has given us time to grow some cherry tomatoes and have a cucumber patch, which are now available for our salads. Are you staying healthy through these times? Or are you finding yourself standing at the refrigerator 20 times a day? Are you outside daily—walking, working in the yard, or feeding the birds? 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Take care of yourself. And let’s experience the love and power of God together while apart.

We have all honed our skills as health risk assessors and managers lately. We have been developing these skills all our lives. Many of us still hear a parent’s voice in our head when we start to do something risky or dangerous. The riskiest thing we do is driving while multitasking. Multitasking is eating a hamburger, changing the radio, and trying to find where the napkin went while driving 65 mph down the expressway during the lunch hour. It is safer to fly with the Blue Angels than to drive in rush hour traffic faster than the speed limit with cars all around you looking to change lanes so they can get there faster than you. 

Going back to church for in-person gatherings is a new risk for us to assess.  Hand sanitizing, face masks and social distancing are the best actions for all to take to keep ourselves and others safe in this time of coronavirus. I have been listening to the stories of the churches who have begun their services this month. Most are working well and tailoring the worship time to the health and age groups within the congregation. Face masks should be worn by everyone while singing and going in and out of the building. Always sanitize your hands when entering and leaving. 

I heard of one church who wanted to have some fun with the idea of social distancing. On their first Sunday back, they provided everyone one of those colorful foam water “noodles.” The instruction was to keep the distance of the float and your extended arm from those around you. It was a fun idea and made the point, although they underestimated the pent-up need to play with others. “You’re too close!” “No, you’re to close!” The bonking began, sword fights broke out and the kids howled with excitement. That is what I heard about one church. I could not verify the truthfulness of the story, but it sounds about right. What an amazing time to be alive.

I am more than ready to return to in-church worship. It is very hard to keep postponing our first time back. The Hebrew people spent 70 years in exile before some were able to return to Jerusalem. They wept. They rebuilt. And they sang, I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the House of the Lord.’ (Psalm 122)

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Be glad. And let’s experience the love and power of God together while apart.

I just completed the first 10 weeks of what I am calling God’s School of Church Technology. It is a self-directed program initiated by the Great Pandemic of 2020. The next 10 weeks will proceed with the same directive—learn what I need to understand about using technology to advance the effectiveness of the church. I have written of this before. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I was also enrolled in God’s post-graduate School of Church Sanitation and Disease Control.  My only experience in this field was two months as a janitor in charge of changing incandescent light bulbs (fluorescent fixtures require skill), floor sweeping, and wrestling a buffer. Also, I once had a food handler’s permit for meals on wheels that expired years ago. Now, in concert with our Hispanic congregation, I have become acquainted with the intrinsic differences between hand soap, antibiotic foams and sprays, and alcoholic and non-alcoholic sanitizers. A support group has become a necessity.

Immediately following our March 15 closure of the building, some volunteers from Monte Los Olivos cleaned and sanitized the restrooms, kitchen, hard surface floors and doors. Later, the water fountains were sealed off from use and the pews, microphones and other surfaces cleaned. Each week now, three teams rotate through the church cleaning before and after any gatherings. As the Hispanic church has begun weekly services, this procedure has worked well. We have focused on the restrooms by replacing the soap bottles with automatic antibacterial hand soap dispensers and providing flushable toilet seat covers. In the main foyer, in the entrance by the kitchen and in Fellowship Hall, we are installing foam hand sanitizers. We have placed sanitizing stations in the sanctuary.

We are considering ways to keep all of us safe during and between Sunday morning worship, while both churches are in the building at our usual times. Occasionally my mother would send us off to bathe saying, Cleanliness is next to Godliness. The saying is not found in the Bible. It is attributed to the Methodist evangelist John Wesley, but probably had its origin in an admonition to wash thoroughly dating from the times of the Black plague. The Bible does advocate clean hands and a clean heart when approaching God in prayer and worship. 

Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. Stay clean and safe. And let’s experience the love and power of God together, while apart.