Time to Listen
The pandemic has made us listen.
Friends Home & Village is a small and caring community. As the new Executive Director, when the pandemic started last March, I was busier than ever. There was no information or guidance, but because lives were at stake, there was an incredible urgency to act. Our staff began working longer hours, taking on different roles and paying attention to new rules. Residents had to adjust to new patterns and restrictions to their movement and services.
It was a paradox. At work, it was frenzied – scrambling to adjust and put new procedures in place – and yet, during the lockdown, the roads were so quiet, the sky was so blue, the air so clean. It felt as if the universe was speaking to us, urging us to listen:
Remember how beautiful the earth is,
remember how sweet the air is, and
remember how much you love each other.
Humans are hard-wired to be in community, and by being forced into seclusion, the need to connect seemed to become even greater. Faced with the possibility of death and illness, we became grateful for our health. Uncertainty reminded us of our humanity, our fragility – that we are only as strong and healthy as our neighbor.
The pandemic has reinforced the truth of our Quaker testimonies:
· Strip away the superfluous and focus on what is important.
· Quiet helps us focus and allows us to absorb and understand.
· A call for us to act to keep ourselves whole and true.
· A reminder of how we need each other and how important our ties to each other are.
· It has made us so aware of the inequities, and how we have fallen short historically.
· It has reminded us of the beauty of the earth and the way we choose to live our lives has diminished it.
Many retirement communities have been devastated by Covid-19, but Friends Home & Village has not had a single case of the virus among our residents. They have been both safer and less isolated than many folks in single-family homes. They have the safety of individual apartments, a supportive staff to help with groceries and errands, and have been able to visit each other outdoors safely, using appropriate precautions.
But the pandemic is not over, and cases are increasing at an alarming rate. How can we hold onto the teachings of those early days? Or will the pandemic force us to listen again?
“Friends Home & Village has not had a single case of the virus among our residents. They have been both safer and less isolated than many folks in single-family homes.”
