ST. ANDREW THE APOSTLE

C-POSITIVE

​

Where is the positive?

I didn’t really start following the coronavirus until about a week before schools shut down...now I check updates daily.  I learned years ago to focus on what I need to and try to let God handle the rest, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) God brings good out of everything.  So what positive could come from the coronavirus? Watching the news does not instill optimism, but God is at work in everything. As I pondered the idea of “corona positive?”...it became C Positive...then it became See positive...and eventually C Pos became See...Pause. And I began to reflect...

See positive in our current situation?  It didn’t take long to see God’s hand at work.  For example, my kids and I have been going to the park to play disc golf...that’s an activity we enjoy but don’t always make time to do...now we are going almost daily.  It’s amazing to see so many people at the parks...families just spending time as a family. The other day I was driving Forest Avenue in Milford and Batman waved at me...a little boy in a batman costume was sitting on the corner with an adult and waving at everyone that passed.  “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 19:14) Last Sunday I started making dinner and the kids joined in.  Luke cubed potatoes and sauteed vegetables, Joshua cooked hamburgers, and I made biscuits.  When the oven was free, Elizabeth baked a homemade chocolate cake. I don’t have to look any further than family and our neighborhood to See the Positive that is happening.  (...and when was the last time we saw gas at $1.46 a gallon?!)

C Pos or See...Pause?  A few short weeks ago my schedule was so busy with ‘important things’ that it was like a treadmill… I had accepted it as ‘normal’ for this stage of life with three teenagers at home and two more kids in college.  God can change a lot in a few short weeks. I am still quite busy as a teacher preparing online lessons for my students but the ‘schedule’ of activities has gone away. Out of nowhere (...not really nowhere) I have the time now to See...and Pause.  The time to do the work that needs to be done but also to check on my kids, help with homework, make meals and eat as a family. Only God could use such a drastic measure as a "Stay at Home" order to the positive end of bringing families back together.  Face it, our family members are the only ones we don’t have to stay 6 feet away from...they are the ones we can be close to. I was disheartened by the cancellation of public Mass but encouraged and challenged by Fr. Chris' Sunday homily to find other ways to be in communion with God.  I’ve taken the opportunity to sit in the quietness of church and be with God. I let life get so full of ‘important stuff’ that I often found myself rushing through the motions and checking off boxes. Fed kids dinner, check. Talked to my wife, check. Went to Mass, check. Life is more than checking boxes.  I’ve heard a lot of people talk about adjusting to a ‘new normal’. I don’t want a new normal...I don’t want a new checklist of boxes. Each day there are new corona updates. Each day God is also orchestrating new opportunities for positive impact. I want to strive to See and Pause...to see through the eyes of faith and encounter God and the people around me in new and different ways, and take the action.  To do this I have to See..and Pause, I have to take the time to be aware and recognize the opportunities that God is creating in the midst of unprecedented changes in our world.

So how are you responding to the current situation?  Take time to See the Positive, take time to See and Pause.

​

Jeff Radloff

St. Andrew Parishioner