I took a home test for COVID-19 the other day. As I waited for the results, I realized that even if I was negative for the virus, I was, inevitably, positive for the effects of the virus.

And so are you.

Since the first positive results in the US, in our state, in our healthcare network, I have been affected, though not infected. In every shift I work, in each scroll through social, in every attempt to plan, there are adjustments and implications.

As I observe increasing fatigue and frustration levels, as I hear patience with others decrease, as reaction replaces reflection, and condemnation overpowers reconciliation, I am aware that we are all testing positive for the effects of the virus. We need a break even as we are starting to break.

My answer for myself and for some of you for the next couple weeks is to not worry about writing new content here. Instead, between now and the end of the year, I’ll be using material from Saint John of the Mall and from Giving the Year Meaning, my advent journal. This will give some of you a break, too, since you are already looking at those resources and coming here.

In some of those posts will be other ways to take a break, since that’s what I tried to do in the journal.

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A couple other notes.

There’s value in sending people notes, particularly in times of loss. This post talks about how to simply write a note: Sending a note in time of grief. And, in a small experiment, I’m making a simple card to send to friends available for purchase. If you want to know more, read the post.

I had a wonderful conversation with Chris Ishak and Kiley Knobloch for their podcast “Following Jesus for Jerks.” In this episode, they let me talk about writing and thinking. It was an opportunity for me to try to understand what I do. In the next one, we talk about chaplaincy during the last two years. I’m grateful for them both.