FIRST PRES-COVID MEMORY PROJECT
Bulletin #3 (6 July 2020)
Editors: Michael Anderson <michael.a249@gmail.com>
John Weiss <jhw4@cornell.edu>
Introduction
This bulletin hopes to:
1. Provide a place where recipients of the bulletin and their family members can share reflections about their experiences during the period from January 1, 2020 to the present.
2. Assist the construction of these reflections by providing timelines of dates for what happened in the church, in Ithaca, in the nation, and in the world as well as essays intended to put the events of the COVID epidemic, including the rethinking and reforming of the relations between white and non-white people and the country’s political and cultural institutions, in historical perspective.
3. Provide a place to extend and augment discussions and group learning that have been going on since January 1st.
4. By carrying out 1.-3., multiply the impact of the church’s worship activities and pastoral leadership.
5. Assist those recording their experiences during the crises.
From Lives Lived in the Crisis:
The three contributions published here below demonstrate the range of concerns prompted by the crisis and by other crises that existed well before 1 January 2020. They discuss various kinds of suffering and awareness of it in others, but also creativity, fulfillment, love, and fun.
1. Pam Hayes: My experience with Covid. (July 1, 2020)
One month into sheltering-in-place and constantly following the scientific news, I began getting very anxious. An enormous fear flooded me about what the outcome would be for us and people all over the world. What would happen to those of India, Syria? Quickly these painful feelings spread to significant and realistic worries about climate change, expanding population of our planet… I began to yearn for my summer at Chautauqua and it’s life-long learning opportunities, the quiet, the peace, delving into myself and issues, many of which I knew little about. Putting things into perspective.
The theme for the first week of the season, online only, was about climate change. The meaningful take aways for me were the challenges of reimagining society post Covid, the dress rehearsal for climate change. Our vulnerability, need to take care of one another, to right inequities, to appreciate the holiness of life.
What is required of us is a transformation of ourselves, a revolution of values, mentally shifting, healing our souls. A celebration of our interconnectedness with collaboration, a sense of urgency, in sync and unified.
2. Suzanne Scholten (July 1, 2020)
How did I feel when the stay at home order was announced?
I had some youth pastor friends in Hong Kong who were keeping us up to date via what they were experiencing during distancing and shut-down. I was in a class at the time and we had zoom calls regarding how we were all feeling and it was brought up over and over again that we often do not pay attention to what is happening in other places when it is not “at home” as it can seem so far off. To me it felt and looked like a form of “American Pride”. I compare to the idea, of I can’t get sick mentally because I am young. I started to ponder this thought for awhile: is this is why we often do not know about the genocides or civil wars going on in other places around the world?
In February, my project for Princeton was to walk the church staff through an enneagram. It is something many churches are using to bring a deeper connection through commission, understanding and conversation. It is also meant to assist in conflict resolution because as you start to know someone better it is easier to have compassion while voicing your thoughts and opinions, which builds a deeper, longer-lasting conection. I really fell in love with this and was very excited to share. When the news really started to focus on Covid-19, my immediate thought was, I am done washing my hands-AWFUL right?! Don’t worry, I did not listen to my inner voice but on my FB post, in the enneagram group that has 20 thousand members someone posted that an 8, the number that I am, would respond this way. It was great to see how this thought played out and gave me some inspiration to dive a bit deeper into the enneagram.
I am a person of my work. I feel this gives me purpose, meaning, direction and focus. But often it is a downfall. Which I saw as the church made its decision to close. I didn’t know what to do or how to move forward. I felt very stuck. And I was filled with guilt as I was working for a non-profit and getting paid. But it made me look at the people who I really wanted to be around, conversations that were important to me and how I spend my time.
I dove into a group called Shared Journeys, led by a man named Eric Clay who spoke to our Adult Education Class in January 2020. We were keeping the social distancing but still meeting face to face and it turned into my safe space. I also started to look at everything I wanted to accomplish personally; learn Italian, write a journal, work a blog, take more philosophy classes with my teacher from the Himalayan Institute, get more involved in the Well Read Black Girl movement, create yoga videos and zoom yoga classes. I dove into all this and found that I was okay. But it has been an emotional roller coaster.
This time of complete change showed me how important it is to have something constant. My morning rituals of meditation have stayed and have helped me find peace. In the past 4 months I have only had one migraine. Having a constant way to stay connected to God or an inner peace while things are steady set me up to keep this practice when times are irregular and unsteady. The practice of yoga is one that is all about preparing us to die. And I am really seeing that now, as my mind wants to wander to fear and everything that is wrong with myself-I can not. When people die, the mind wanders but if you have a phrase or mantra that connects you to God or something of complete Joy, it will come to you. Your cells will know what to do. And this allows us to surrender and settle into a place of bliss. And now my cells are awakening to use this time to look at my path, question and focus on God. It is opening me up to see where things are weak and need strengthening. Often in a time of coasting, where there are not ups and downs, we can slide by and not step back to evaluate. But in a time of struggle it shakes us up so much that we have no choice but to look deep within ourselves and see who we are and who we are called to be, to ask are we going in the right direction or have we strayed?
3. The Shackell-Dowell’s Family’s thoughts on Quarantine – 29 June 2020
I’m so tired. This morning at prayer group, John Weiss encouraged us to get it together and submit something. I’ve wanted to, but everything since March 13th has seemed overwhelming. It never used to! I was always a “Get it done!” kind of person. These days, I get most of the urgent stuff done, but the rest just keeps piling up. I’ve tried strategies to help us cope – we’ve had daily checklists of things we need to do each day to keep physically, socially, and emotionally healthy. Lots of days we have done that. Some days we have not. Highlights of our days have included watching movies – we’ve watched many, many movies. Obligations have been weeding and taking care of the yard. We’ve done two things heretofore unthought of: get a dog and a boat. Both have given us great joy and lots of conversation points. Joining the prayer group Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays has been lovely for me. I enjoy the connection. I enjoy the church services on YouTube – and the flexibility for our schedule, but I truly miss seeing our friends from church. I’ve taken back up on knitting. I’m making prayer shawls for Deacons to distribute once they can visit people. I’ve also been dwelling on weeding. It takes so much time, and is temporarily satisfying, but the weeds come back. John suggested that this is like the racism and other inequity in the world today. Glen and I wrote a couple of poems about the weeds. Do you see the double meaning? Finally, I think that some of the memes that have been going around will be great for historians to look back on. Below find our poems, photos of our boat, our dog, my prayer shawls, and a meme. [For the photos and meme, see Bulletin #4]
Poems:
By Margaret – I was weeding my garden out back
Disappointed when I heard a crack
I didn’t get roots
I cried in my boots
I guess I’ll give it another whack!
By Glen – There once was a woman named Shack
Who was heartbroken to hear a loud crack
The weed root had broken
But soon, she had spoken
“Don’t get too comfy, you know I’ll be back!”
And
The weed root, broken
My job is not yet finished
But my back is done
Glen:
For me, the Covid-19 pandemic has been summed up by the phrase “we are not all in the same boat.” (I would like to give a proper citation for this, but I can’t find the originator and it’s been repeated by many.) While there have been some universal experiences from this crisis, the reality is that we all have been going through our own journeys. Some are personally fearing for their health and safety, while others are secure for themselves but fear for aging relatives or friends. Some have been stuck working from home, while others are furloughed, and of course, still others have been forced to continue to go to work, putting themselves at risk. Some are squished together with family, wishing for a little solitude, while others have more solitude than they ever wished for.
Claire:
I found the beginning of quarantine to be incredibly difficult. My entire world stopped and I had three days to pack up and move halfway across the country, alone. I was often angry and frustrated with taking online classes. Now however, I have a new outlook. I have found many more opportunities for online classes that will give me free time in the future. I am more excited than ever to return to campus in the fall and start to live a normal life again.
Gavin:
Quarantine is boring.
The status of photos
Over the course of the past few weeks, we have received a wonderful collection of photos from First Presbyterian Church members showing life during quarantine. The diversity and quality of the photos impressed us and we hope to share them with those who read this as a way to help give them ideas. Unfortunately, we ran into technical difficulties and are unable to post many of them for this particular bulletin. In the future we will: 1. Continue to explore ways to include larger files in our emailed and postal bulletin. First, we would like to have some of the photos added to the next bulletin once we figure out how to effectively do so. Secondly, we are in the early stages of creating a website where members of the church will be able to deposit their works and engage in conversations with one another.
God’s Promise, Genesis 9:8-17
Double Rainbow over Brooktondale
2 June 2020.
Question(s) to Write About
This will be a new section to our constantly expanding Bulletin where anyone who may have a question that they would like to ask other participants, they may submit the questions to us and we will make sure they show on this section in the following bulletin. The goal is to create conversations between members of the church about global, national and local events. You have the option to answer all questions, or select one of them for a particular bulletin issue.
- The stresses associated with the Covid 19 pandemic are now overlapping with demands for social justice for African Americans whose experiences and concerns have long been rendered invisible. What are your hopes and concerns about the future as it pertains to these two issues? – Sandra Greene
- How have you stayed connected with the church and with other members of the church?
- Has the pandemic changed how you receive information? In other words, do you still obtain your news from the same sources or have you turned to other news outlets? Why or why not?
- How has faith guided you through the SARs-COV-2 pandemic?
- What events (local, national, or international) would you like to see on future Bulletin timelines so others could read about them?
News, New Ways to Celebrate Creation, New Ways to Serve
Hidden Treasure: An Old Growth Forest Just off Route 13 on the Way to Newfield
Fischer Old-growth Forest Natural Area (Cornell Botanic Gardens)
https://ithacatrails.org/site/Fischer%20Old-growth%20Forest%20Natural%20Area
Head out route 13 to Newfield, turn your car around in the parking lot of Stella’s Barn restaurant, then about 75 yards closer to Ithaca on the other side of the road there is a small unmarked parking space, in front of a yellow “Posted” sign.
Bring a walking stick or find one in the entrance to the red trail…..maybe.
We had a delicious 3-hour visit, savoring the incredible variety of tree species, linked together with the vines even more acrobatic than those of the Virunga forest in Rwanda, and furnished with enormous uproots in phantasmagoric shapes
Theatrical shafts of sunlight striking down through the canopy; road sounds almost inaudible (a condition in which hunters and hikers find special enjoyment); rotting trunks on the ground of a size that puts them in years before Europeans came here; the delicious calmness of a willed solitude.
We only completed about a third of the red circuit trail.
Must return…..but not after a heavy rain creates muddy slides. This is a seriously dangerous trail in certain parts, and even an EMT with the balance of a ballet dancer would take a long time stretchering you out of there.
A book to take with you: Richard Higgins, Thoreau and the Language of Trees. (Univ of California Press, 2017)
John Weiss
Connecting with the Rohingya Genocide Victims
- Cornell student Rachel Chuang addressed First Pres’ Adult Ed two years ago about the work of the International Justice Mission. Now, working with a team of students at Harvard and the Liberation War Museum in Bangladesh, she has launched on online exhibit of Rohingya artwork, the first step in a campaign to bring Rohingya culture to the attention of the international community. As the exhibit, kept online so far by the epidemic, puts it: “Art has the power to remember the past, build connections across time and space, and contribute to the ongoing fight for justice in our communities.” The gallery displays arts and crafts created by Rohingya refugees:www.threadexhibit.com.
Other material concerning Rohingya women’s use of art in response to the genocide, never before viewable anywhere outside Bangladesh, will appear in later editions of this bulletin.
2. British activist Mabrur Ahmed’s “Restless Beings,” a 12-year-old
international humanitarian organization, was the only aid group that did not pull back from the Rohingya refugee camps at the onset of COVID. Mabrur, who has joined First Pres for AM prayers, the first Muslim to do so, continues to find ways to get aid items (especially PPE sets) into the camp-supporting hospitals more efficiently and cheaply than most of the much larger aid organizations. Today a $100 donation from you will enable RB to buy 7 PPE sets for the medical staff.. https://www.restlessbeings.org/support-us
The Crisis in Historical Context
“Stanely’s hypothesis that Prisoner A spread the flu among fellow prisoners appears to be convincing. But this hypothesis also raises issues about the treatment of Prisoner A from the time of his arrival. If, as Stanley states, Prisoner A was already suffering from conventional flu, he should have been quarantined to stop the flu spreading. Instead, he was allowed to mix freely with his fellow prisoners and even attend a full house movie screening in a badly ventilated room. Was this carelessness, or was there another factor at play?” Catharine Arnold, Pandemic 1918 P. 49
COVID-19 has forced many of us to reconsider what we value in a society and how we could help improve our communities. Along with the death of George Floyd, movements have sparked across the nation making many to reflect on how we value others in our community based on race and ethnicity. But as COVID-19 has continued to create turmoil in the United States, those who remain in prisons, migrant detention centers and refugee camps have been silently suffering from the current pandemic.
The excerpt that is cited above deserves a bit of background before explaining why it’s important. Dr. Leo Stanley was a eugenicist who was given access to San Quentin Prison during the 1918 influenza outbreak as a way to study the virus in closed and controlled environments. This experiment would be shot down by today’s standards, since his history for strange practices point to a theory that his sinister experiment purposely introduced the virus into the prison population through “Prisoner A”, but it also confirmed that the virus thrived in close quarter conditions.
Today’s situation isn’t much different. And being a student of history, I tend to cringe when I hear someone say, “history repeats itself.” But many examples from the past should be reflected upon as we collectively attempt to improve our current situations. Currently, the COVID-19 outbreak has followed a similar path to the 1918 influenza outbreak that devastated the world just a little over a century ago, where close quarters and densely populated areas are hotbeds for the spread of the virus. Within the last month alone, infected prisoners have doubled with prison deaths from the virus rising by 73% in the same time. San Quentin, the same prison that Stanely once ran tests in, are facing an outbreak of COVID-19 and prisoners fearing for their lives.
Prisons in the United States are just one example. With thousands of migrants making their way to the United States to escape violence and/or to seek better economic opportunity, they also face the risk of ending up in ICE Detention Centers. Although ICE centers have been a center of debate regarding the poor conditions that migrants have to deal with, COVID-19 has created an even worse situation for many who have been forced into these camps. Around half of all of those tested are revealed to be positive, while 2 migrants and 3 staff members have died due to complications from the virus.
Issues regarding the humanitarian crisis that is unfolding in U.S. prison and migrant detention centers due to COVID-19 aren’t limited to the United States. South of the U.S. border, refugee camps containing those who are waiting for their immigration court dates face conditions of no running water and close quarters living in which tents and tarps are the only thing separating them and their neighbor. The Cox’s Bazar Refugee camp in Bangladesh, where well over half a million Rohingya people live, has faced similar conditions with a recorded 49 cases of COVID-19, with 5 deaths from the virus as of June 28th. Health officials fear for the worst in refugee camps like Cox’s Bazar, where close quarter living and limited access to basic sanitary items such as running water, soap, masks and clinics will create an ideal environment for COVID-19 to spread with ease. These silenced populations suffer under the constant fear that COVID-19 will spread in these close quartered areas. Mixed with the limited access to proper medical equipment, a humanitarian crisis could possibly occur under the radar.
Michael Anderson
Sources
Prisons: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/us/coronavirus-inmates-prisons-jails.html
Refugee Camps: https://apnews.com/d7b3b92fe4b708dc2c940062532b9bfc
Timeline
We constantly expand the timeline, giving dates and other information about events in First Pres Ithaca and in local, national, and international space. We are reformatting the Timeline to make it easier to use. The new combined Timeline will appear in the next number of the Bulletin as well as on a future Memory Project website.
Presbyterian Salt 