Here we are in the middle of Monday again. Monday brings a new week of lockdown world around us but this week is a little different.

This week we are in a second week of a hard lockdown and they won’t let up until January 10th at least.

This week brings us holidays and breaks.

Today even more specifically is the shortest day/longest night. Welcome, winter solstice.

As Monday stands, so far it hasn’t been so bad and even though much of the world is starting to rest, my day has been fairly busy already. Ana’s company has given her a few weeks of break in which the entire company is on break. My school is on a two week break as well so at least there is that. I was ready for a break from online school. BUT my new little job keeps plugging along which brings a sermon deadline and pastoral calls especially during the holidays.

Zoom pastoral care is an interesting profession and it is interesting to think about. There is a weird way in which I now have to pay attention to how I come across the screen. Am I looking attentive? Can I hold my reactions in a way that communicates across the wifi? Where am I looking? Are we pausing in ways that allows the other to talk without feeling cut off over zoom? I have a feeling that new works about these topics will be hitting our inboxes soon. It is a facet to our lives that is a fascinating way to move in the world and it is a different kind of effort and is a different kind of exhausting.

This week brings us to Christmas Eve and Christmas…days I most eagerly anticipate and equally dread. I was walking home this morning from an errand and feeling the way the air and energy of the city is changing to accommodate holidays in this weird world. I so wish we were headed to the states this week to celebrate but here we are and trying to make it all special and cozy. I find myself constantly going between…let’s make it easy and let’s go all out. We will land somewhere in the middle.

And finally after tonight we start to gain some daylight back. I am ready. Every minute counts as it seems the days flit by way to fast in the light and the nights seem unbearably long.

Happy Solstice!