שָׁלוֹם

Pandemic 

by Lynn Ungar 3/11/2020

What if you thought of it 

as the Jews consider the Sabbath- 

the most sacred of times? 

Cease from travel. 

Cease from buying and selling. 

Give up, just for now, on trying to make the world 

different than it is. 

Sing. Pray. Touch only those 

to whom you commit your life. 

Center down. 

And when your body has become still, 

reach out with your heart. 

Know that we are connected 

in ways that are terrifying and beautiful. 

(You could hardly deny it now.) 

Know that our lives 

are in one another's hands. 

(Surely, that has come clear.) 

Do not reach out your hands. 

Reach out your heart. Reach out your words. 

Reach out all the tendrils 

of compassion that move, invisibly, 

where we cannot touch. 

Promise this world your love-- 

for better or for worse, 

in sickness and in health, 

so long as we all shall live.