"This Is Really Starting to Suck"

Michael, left, with his friend and fellow SBS-er Scott, right.

The quote of the year came from friend and Side by Side participant Michael Howell, who is so thoughtful and has a wonderful sense of humor.

A few minutes before a recent Side by Side virtual gathering, just a few of us had logged on to Zoom and were casually chatting while waiting for the rest. Typical quarantine questions: “How have you been passing the time?” “Gotten outside at all?” “Anybody watched any good shows?”

I tried to share very gently that the shutdown was really starting to be hard, but I didn’t want to come across too negatively. So I just rambled vaguely for a bit, until Michael thankfully interrupted me and put it much better: “Yeah, this is really starting to suck.”

He’s right, of course. And what Michael’s saying is important. While hope and positivity have their place, so too does sadness. The widespread sickness and death are sad. Social distancing  and isolation are sad. This is not how we’re meant to live.

Don’t get me wrong: I believe it’s extremely important to practice social distancing, because it saves lives and buys time for our healthcare systems and vaccine researchers. In the meantime, technologies like Zoom and FaceTime are helpful. But they are poor substitutes for the real thing: being with one another. It’s okay to say that, even while we use them. Because I hope we don’t get too used to them.

Scripture teaches us that lament and hope are close companions. When we lament, we say that things are not the way they should be - and therefore confessing that there is a should be! Michael feels that, and I feel that, and I think we all feel that. We’re meant to be near each other, to see face to face, to experience one another’s presence. So go ahead and be sad, and hopeful.