(Un)Mute Yourself, Day 13
Psalm 126:4a, Pivot our fortunes, Lord.
Today’s featured contributor is Laura Keating-Clevidence. Laura is a third-year seminary student at Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA. She was born and raised in Appalachia but calls Montana home. Laura is an aspiring pastor who hates church but loves people, and dreams of starting a brand-new type of ministry. When she’s not in classes, catch her cooking up something yummy, horseback riding, or challenging her husband to their 10,000th game of Cribbage.
It’s March of 2020. I hear the news that a new disease has reached the United States, and it may be serious. My heart pivots towards skepticism…
It’s April of 2020. I am sheltering at my mother-in-law’s, doing all my graduate classes online, and longing for this to be over by summertime. My heart pivots back and forth between hope and resignation.
It’s Summer. It becomes utterly clear that we are in this for the long haul. My wedding — which was set a year ago for August 22, 2020 — must be completely re-imagined. My heart pivots towards despair. On the wedding day, elation; Afterwards, a crushing depression.
It’s October of 2020. I am exhausted and lonely. I consider quitting school. I consider running away — to where? I can’t get out of bed. My heart feels too heavy to even pivot anymore.
It is Advent of 2020. For the first time in a while, this whole “season of waiting” thing seems to make sense. We have been waiting for so much, for so long. The announcement of a vaccine. A real paycheck. The feeling of a best friend’s hugs. The birth of something new.
“God, pivot the path of my life, like streams in the desert.”
Has God been pivoting my path all along?
