From: Susanne Riehle
Elizabethtown
Like the unexpected house guest that can’t take the hint and leave after three days, COVID is still with us.
We are an impatient society. We want our movies on-demand, our medical treatments to be painless and quick and our food to be fast (but not fast food!).
But in some forms of suffering there are lessons.
For years, we’ve complained about Christmas being too commercial. My brother-in-law used to comment about kids getting "into the spirit of receiving."
And its true that one could respond to COVID in a flurry of random gifts and online spending triggered by the boredom of the same four walls. But are you? It is a choice.
I suspect COVID has been part of a wake up call that just may teach our society some way-overdue lessons:
–Loneliness is deadly, but phone calls help. This is especially true of the elderly. I take my mother-in-law along to share my morning coffee — all by phone.
–Money is less valuable than time.
–We can all get by on a little less. We really don’t need all those things.
–Books beat TV. Even cable.
–Homemade food can taste fantastic.
–At home, you can wear comfortable clothes.
–With some effort you can get healthier or learn something new. There are no more excuses for not doing something.
–Kids benefit from grandparents, parents benefit from grandparents, and grandparents benefit from family.
–Christmas isn’t a trip down the toy aisle.
–Rudolf and Frosty can move aside some of the time. Christmas decorations can be religious — it’s your choice.
–For years we’ve complained about family (eeek! Politics at the dinner table. Or feeling judged by some standard.) But family can be a miracle itself: a tightening weave that somehow responds when we really need it. Forget the slights and remember the strength. Extend the love, not the hurt. Isn’t that what is meant by turning the other cheek?
–Bad can become good.
–Somebody else, sometimes lots of "somebodies" have it worse than you.
Maybe it’s time to really talk about what matters. Maybe the kids can hear about your choices for charity. Maybe the kids can hear about your dreams for them and your dreams for yourself.
