Such a Time as This

I make no claims of association with Esther, the Biblical character whose uncle suggested that perhaps she had come into the Persian kingdom "for such a time as this" in order to use her influence to save the Jewish people from annihilation.*  I do, however, marvel at how the Covid-19 epidemic has suddenly forced a number of my long-time passions into the spotlight.  These ideas seem made for such a time as this.

Homeschooling comes to mind first.  On a national scale, homeschooling has been forced on nearly all individual students and families.  If you've known me for a long time, you know how close to my heart homeschooling is.

Home food production is another passion of mine.  Seed companies are being overwhelmed with orders.  Coming during the spring planting season as it has, Covid-19 social distancing and gardening fit together like a green-thumbed hand into a gardening glove. 

Good health habits, especially healthful dietary choices, and non-pharmaceutical "treatments" for disease are coming to the fore as well.  I doubt that I'm the only person wondering whether certain kinds of nutritional intake make a difference in severity of symptoms for those who become infected with viruses.  What about old-fashioned medicinal herbs, spices, and foods?  Or readily-available and relatively inexpensive food supplements?  Can taking these make a difference?  In a time when standard medical protocols have so little to offer as a cure for Covid-19, alternatives seem to clamor for attention.  Maybe some of these options will prove to provide us with something of value long after the main Covid-19 threat is past. 

I love to cook for my family.  With eating out severely curtailed, home cooking is seeing a resurgence.  Does anyone doubt that home cooking is a skill worth cultivating? Or that home cooking has the potential of being more healthful than eating fast food or excessively processed food? Since most restaurants offer only carry-out, eating food around a family table becomes more likely, even if the food is fast food. 

Having my family at home with me is the best!  With the cancellation of many away-from-home activities, family togetherness happens by default.  As referred to above, eating around a table is more likely than simply eating fast food in the car while in transition from one activity to the next.  This can be a very good thing.  Ideally, social skills and character development  happen first and most thoroughly in this context.  If together time reveals fractures in family relationships or a need for character development, they can be addressed where such things are most ideally addressed--at home.

Being present in nature is a delight to me.  Suddenly "everyone" has more time for this than before, and it's one of the few recreational activities that combines well with social distancing.  Being outdoors also combines easily with exercise and sunshine--two "free" ways to promote health.  "Grounding" and inhaling plant polyphenols  are less well-known benefits of being outdoors, but walking outdoors with bare feet and breathing deeply around plants both seem to be very good for us. 

I love not needing to rush through my morning meditation on Scripture.  Having no place to go helps with this.  I've finished the first read-through of the New Testament for this year and am ready to embark on the second reading, this time in a different translation, with different  study Bible notes.  A three-month plan can be accessed here.   Maybe others will find in an enforced stay-at-home time more opportunities to read Scripture. 

Certainly Covid-19 has introduced a great deal of uncertainty into our lives, and we may yet taste much of grief and loss because of it.  Just as we resolve to turn our face to the Lord when we experience hard things, let's keep our hands open also for the good things that the Lord might offer us during this time.  This can happen with or without previous passion for these things.

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This short meditation expands on the phrase from the book of Esther.