Tunamshukuru Mungu. We thank God.

“Tunamshukuru Mungu.”

We thank God.

A friend messaged me this after sharing with me that her and her family are well.  We do thank God. In the midst- not just on the other side of the HARD.  I was thankful for this reminder today.  I am grateful for technology that enables me to connect with friends from an island across the world that is so deeply important to me.  It is hard to explain to those who cannot immediately call to mind sounds and smells and even a feel of a place that became home after 4 years. And I know people grow tired of hearing memories from a place that have not walked and people they have not loved dearly.  I am grateful they became dear friends to us and invited us into their lives.  I am grateful for how much I learned from our friends there. I am so grateful that this halt in the pace of life has allowed us to reconnect. And I am so grateful to know they are well. So much of our current day to day life is different but the impact of this global pandemic is felt in both places- in different ways. It made me thankful for the global perspectives in my life.  I can be so short sighted and constantly listening to friends with differing experiences and perspectives is vital. 

I am grateful that while some are seeking to cause further divisions along ethnic and political lines many of us are seeing more of our common vulnerability through this. This time of uncertainty and hardship has connected us in new and different ways.  We see just how similar we are in wanting to be with our loved ones, caring about the health and safety of our families and friends & being so grateful for the healthcare workers on the front lines right now, worried about our jobs and livelihood, wanting answers, feel lonely or disconnected, and needing to help in whatever ways we can. We are all feeling anxiety, disruption, and fear about the future in our own ways.  But this PAUSE is also an invitation to reconsider our priorities.   This stop is allowing us to BE instead of DO. We are stopping life because we want to protect our neighbors and love well and at a cost. This type of neighbor-ing is more central than ever. Kindness; with ourselves and others, is necessary. Sharing resources and seeking unity is needed.   

I am praying we seek truth and do not dwell in fear.  I pray we have some collective shifts in how we see one another. I pray that the inequalities that are always present but that those of us with privilege can choose to ignore become central and demand seeking real justice. I pray that we become more united across ethnic and country borders as a common human family and then act in ways that reflect out interconnectedness.  

I am praying we see not just our frailty but the beauty of our common humanity.