God,
I’m thinking about how we are all here
pandemicking,
all day everyday.
Even though we long for the day
that we have pandemicked,
we are just not there yet.
Just as you are the God
who is Justicing, Gooding, Blessinginging
(because the gerund* verb tense is the best)
the timeframe of this pandemicking
is equally ongoing, and nebulous,
and I am aware that the echoes of this
Pandemicking, will actually live on in me
forever.
In truth I will never stop Pandemicking.
Like those who were Immigrating,
never will, in some sense stop being immigrants,
and those who have survived something,
never will, in some sense, stop being survivors.
And today
I’m thankful that you, Jesus
–who fled to Egypt, lived under occupation,
grew up an outsider and were almost thrown off a cliff,
You Jesus of all people,
get that.
And some days I’m bitter that
in some ways
I’ll always be pandemicking
and on somedays, I wonder, but do I really want to unlearn
all the things I needed to know?
About the cracks in society?
About those who we have lost!
About who are being forgotten?
About what needs to change?
After all, what is greater discipleship than that?
So, God. I’ll be here. Surviving this pandemic.
Pandemicking.
Every single day.
And thankful that I have the gerund tense to describe it.
But I’m also grateful that I have a God
Who gets it–
and gives us a knapsack of the right kind of more gerunds,
to do this pandemic thing,
and for being a pandemicking God along the way.
Here Goes God, more Pandemicking….
Come with me…
Amen.
Feel free to use/share/adapt with credit to Pastor Katy Stenta and please give to my 2nd year of Doctorate of Ministry in Creative Writing at https://gofund.me/aaeb4910

*Gerund: is a verb that we have turned into a noun with ing like swimming. In ancient Hebrew gerund was a tense that can also mean present participle, it means ongoing without a definite end, when it comes to God I think of it as the inging verbs.
