Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends in Christ,

So our oldest and I got hit with Covid. We’ve done a pretty good job of dodging it  so far. But now that we’ve gotten it, he and I have been isolating in a guest room trying to make sure mom and brother don’t get it too.

We’ve had lots of time to chat. Time for board games. He got to see all the Star Wars movies. We stayed up late. I showed him how to use latitude and longitude on a globe to find places.

In another time, this would have been normal. It would be unexceptional for family and friends to have time to get to know one another, share and listen, play and rest. Of course, these days it seems to take a massive snowstorm or a pandemic to make people find the time to do important stuff together,

We love busyness — but busyness doesn’t love us. We don’t get a sense of connection or calm, purpose or direction, rest or rejuvenation from busyness. That comes from slowing down.

Slowing down doesn’t mean we just become idle slugabeds! But it does mean that when we do work, we do it with new focus and energy. It’s why God rested on the seventh day. Baked into the DNA of creation is the holy need for rest.

One lesson from the pandemic I hope we can all take away is that it shouldn’t take a global health crisis for us to do the things that make us human and whole. That may be the deeper, longer-lasting crisis we all avoid too quickly.

Thank you all for the prayers and kind notes — we’re on the mend and I look forward to seeing everyone soon! In the meantime, make some time for important stuff in your lives this week.

Yours in Christ,
Fr Robert