At our multisite church conference this past Tuesday, our District Superintendent, the Rev. Darneather Murph-Heath, asked a simple but important question. She asked us: What have you started doing during this COVID time that you will continue doing when we are on the other side of this? While she asked that in regards to how we are doing church these days, I have been thinking about that question and how I would answer it for my personal life.

As weary as I am of doing zoom meetings, I have grown to be deeply appreciative of the technology that has allowed me to stay in touch with and even reconnect with friends around the country and around the world. One of my best friends now lives in Italy. Another one lives in the greater Atlanta area. When we were all in Chicago, we would get together regularly for long, leisurely lunches. Another important group of friends is now scattered across the country. It took me a while to figure this out, but zoom allows us to get together regularly now without leaving our homes. Even pre-COVID, we could not get together as regularly as we do now.

It has been years since I was able to get all four of my now-adult children and their partners in one place for the holidays. Like many young families, they are stretched and pulled in different directions as they attempt to spend time with their extended families. But this Thanksgiving, we were all able to gather together via Zoom for a shared Thanksgiving lunch and conversation. It made my day. And I was profoundly grateful for this gift of technology that allowed me to see all my kids and grandkids in the same “space.”

This gift of technology (and, yes, even for those of us that are technologically challenged) is a blessing. It offers us a way to stay connected in ways that we could not do or had not thought to do previously.

While I long for the day when I can be with family and friends in person again, I know that there are some people I dearly love who are simply too far away for us to do this on a regular basis. In pre-COVID days, I often found myself drifting away from friends once life took us to different geographical locations. Now that is not the case. We now have a way to stay connected and to be a vital part of each other’s lives on an ongoing basis. For this, I am truly grateful, and I know that Zoom gatherings will be a permanent part of the way I stay in touch with those I love.

I hope during these strange and challenging times, you are finding aspects of it that are a blessing and that you want to make a permanent part of your lives going forward.

~Pastor Wendy Witt