Kardia Kaiomenē: Cocoon Time

San Clemente, CA

Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.
Alice Walker

Two weeks ago, Lindsay flew to Orange County to get six days with her mom, sister and the nephews. Those six days doubled in length and quadrupled in intensity. She suddenly found herself quarantining and homeschooling. Meanwhile, Tom drove to Portland to pick up his mom. No way in hell she was getting on a plane flying out of the Pacific Northwest! They road-tripped down to Orange County as businesses shuttered and residents sheltered.

We are grateful for the resources and flexibility to be able to connect with family during this dramatic shifting of heaven and earth. We drove back to Bend on Saturday and facilitated our first Zoom church gathering on Sunday morning (left) with Storydwelling, a faith community of belonging, ritual and resistance. At the beginning of March, we began a four-month stint as the interim pastors while their pastor Erika is on parental leave. For the Zoom gathering, we spent time with seniors in full quarantine mode and parents with little ones out of school and workers on sick leave, some with pay, others without. We will host this digital faith community every other Sunday at 10am, in addition to facilitating a virtual lectio divina gathering on the other Sundays at 7:30pm.

We envision our work of soul accompaniment ramping up in the weeks and months ahead. So many folks have already shared deep feelings of fear, anger, anxiety and uncertainty over present decisions and future outcomes, both physical and financial. Many have a yearning for connecting the dots and truth-telling about how social, political and economic policies have shaped this crisis. There is a hunger for more honesty and depth and clarity in these conversations.

The past three years of travel and long-distance pastoring and counseling and writing has prepared us for this sudden shift. Spirit has strengthened our capacity to be present. We will continue to offer phone and Skype calls for individuals and couples who want to check in with deep movements of Spirit swimming inside them. We will be facilitating virtual teach-ins and book discussions and conversations around short videos like this on Coronavirus Capitalism. What if we did a Friday afternoon happy hour where we "communitized" the news? Each participant could share what they experienced as the most important development of the week and then share feelings and spiritual strategies. Compelling ideas for connection are percolating.

Our friend Will Copeland is an environmental justice activist and hip-hop artist in Detroit. Last week, he posted something prodding folks to consider this era of social distancing, self-isolating and flattening the curve to be a "cocoon time" for individuals and families to embrace spiritual growth and healing--instead of just waiting for a "return to normal." Butterflies and moths stay in their cocoons for 5 to 21 days. Perhaps our cocoon time will be longer. No one knows. What do we want to become when we emerge from this cocoon time? What sort of wings do we want to grow? It's metamorphosis time.

**Don't hesitate to call, email, FaceTime or text us during this season. Even if it's simply to swap reading and viewing recommendations. Let's keep checking in on each other and keeping one another's courage up!