For many people, humor is a coping mechanism for stress. And I think stressful is a good way to describe the condition of 2020 so far. Our entire planet is dealing with an invisible demon in the way of a virus. It has colored our professional and personal lives and crept into virtually every single activity engaged in by human beings. So to deal with the stress of uncertainty of the virus and how it will affect our fall and winter, folks sometime look to humor.

 

And if you are plugged into social media in any way, you may be seeing that people already are using 2020 in reference to anything frustrating, scary, cancelled or just generally messed up.

 

It’s like 2020 has replaced Murphy’s law — if anything can go wrong, it will.

 

For example, if you had a big event planned and it has now been cancelled you could say it has been 2020ed.

 

If your car breaks down and you forgot your cell phone at home, you have been 2020ed.

 

If you avoided getting caught in a storm but your house is flooded by a burst pipe, that is so 2020.

 

There has been a lot to deal with this year. But not everything has been bad. This year should give us an opportunity to look beyond any adversity and keep our 2020 vision on the blessings. Even when we feel like complaining or bursting into tears because of job loss, health problems or murder hornets, we should rehone our focus to the blessings around us.

 

Let me provide some examples. 

 

I found it very frustrating that there were so few plants available this spring at the local greenhouses. Because of the pandemic, people were trying out or going back to gardening. While that may have been a frustration, here we are in August and there are many folks sharing their harvests with others. So enjoying nature and the ability of the earth to bring forth sustenance has not been 2020ed.

 

Parishes have been very creative in the ways they reach out to their parishioners and those in need. Drive-by food drives are being conducted, donations of school supplies and money are still being given and received. Charity and generosity have not been 2020ed.

 

People are still being healed from non-coronavirus ailments and broken bones. Healthcare professionals and their great gifts have not been 2020ed, nor has the miracle of the human body to heal itself.

 

Birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, graduations, confirmations all may not have been celebrated in typical ways because of the ongoing pandemic but they happened nonetheless. Seeing balloons on the lawn, colorful homemade signs, hearing horns honking and seeing a parade of cars proves that people found other ways to celebrate. So it is obvious that you can’t 2020 creativity. And you certainly can not 2020 joy.

 

Babies are still being born every day in this world so we know that life itself can’t be 2020ed. 

 

And even if we can’t go to Mass each week the way we once did or as often as we once did, Mass is still being celebrated all over the world. The Lord lives in our hearts and hears our prayers. Faith can never be 2020ed.

 

And because we can never destroy faith and prayer and the strength it gives to us as children of God, we know that it is the best coping mechanism of all. 

 

So let’s cope together with this prayer in our hearts.

Most merciful and Triune God,

We come to you in our weakness.

We come to you in our fear.

We come to you with trust.

For you alone are our hope.

We place before you the disease present in our world.

We turn to you in our time of need.

Continued on page 11

From page 9

Bring wisdom to doctors.

Give understanding to scientists.

Endow caregivers with compassion and generosity.

Bring healing to those who are ill.

Protect those who are most at risk.

Give comfort to those who have lost a loved one.

Welcome those who have died into your eternal home.

Stabilize our communities.

Unite us in our compassion.

Remove all fear from our hearts.

Fill us with confidence in your care.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Jesus, I trust in you.

Amen.

— Author unknown