Friends,
I'm often asked if anyone in the congregation has been impacted by COVID-19.  The answer is, "Yes, everyone."  But when that question comes, it's usually meant to be more direct.  It's usually about who's gotten sick.  We've had several.  Even more of us—in fact, many—have had loved ones impacted:  children, parents, friends, coworkers.  Some pretty sick.  Some have seen loved ones die.  We're not immune from the illness itself.

One member, Barry Goodfield, had a pretty bad case of the virus over the summer.  It led to eleven days in the ICU.  By grace, strength, and good care, he is recovering.  Barry is a psychologist by profession.  He has taken time to reflect on his experience, both on what happened and on what it means to him.  He has given me permission to share his thoughts, and so I do so here. 

Trapped in the vortex of a world wind. Time twisted - healthy, happy one moment ER intensive treatment at Arrowhead our local hospital diagnosed with COVID-19. A multitude of professional strangers - a determined team of consummate professional’s geared to beating that which damn near killed me - saved my life.

Dramatic? Yes and factual. Quiet, concerned we arrived at the hospital, saying goodbye by the door. I was smoothly and professionally processed and taken to a hospital bed where I lay for eleven days. Like many major events in life our context determines meaning and our perception determines reality. The event required compliance cooperation and following the simple rules laid down by a caring, chart reading nursing staff.

Universal love and care from my family was matched by professionalism, skilled, and a profound sense that I was in the hands of those who knew what to do, and when and how it should be done. I experienced a smooth machine doing a tough job on my behalf.

But what is it like to confront the Coronavirus? I felt as if I were in the hands of consummate task oriented, up to the job and focused professionals. Mostly nameless, throughout the days people appeared and disappeared in my single hospital room. It was real without a doubt. There was however, a still yet strange reflection on what I experience. It happened, it was true and I guess it's safe to say a near death experience.

What is the takeaway? Time is a focus revealing truth and reality spanning experience and lessons learned in life. Obviously an event of such magnitude is multilayered. The days that passed, were seemingly blurred by time. 

Fresh impressions bringing up old history of childhood illness. The here and now and childhood memories of hospitals and serious asthma attacks reignited old unpleasant memories.

The treatment I received was outstanding but the time it took to once again be in our car on the way home from the hospital on some level seemed like an eternity brought back with the snap of an illness. Time to recover at home had its challenges.

Memory, time and moments form the fabric of our life. How we see it and how we have lived it with all the twists and turns of life develop the texture of our daily experience as people. Moreover, it becomes a roadmap into our unknown future.

These last days and weeks where a reminder of the texture of time and the essence of moments we have and what to do with them. It boils down to the degree of the importance we give to each moment that we live and how we choose to live them. For me, life is the essence of fragments strung together to compose a picture.

Facts, factors and fragments of fate forming the essence of our reality. How we put them together determine the uniqueness of our personality and in essence the sense of meaning we give to and get out of life.

These last weeks have provided a magnified reflection of what is important and why. Simply put - I got the message. Stay alert, healthy and safe. 

We're grateful you're well, Barry, and thank you for the gift of your thoughts! Peace, and health, to all who are reading this.