Day 221
Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic
A series of daily reflections for people of faith
by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor
Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland
pastorrobert@paxpres.org
Week Thirty-two Wednesday 21 October 2020
Covid Will Not Win:
Meet the People Powering a Hospital in Brooklyn
The Brooklyn Hospital Center, Brooklyn, New York
Dr. Sylvie de Souza, Chair, Emergency Medicine
“Coronavirus has made me probably even more aware of the value of human connection in treating illness, because we’re really deprived of that, the patients are deprived of that. It’s made me more vulnerable, more grateful to be there and be able to do something to help those that I could help. My job is to oversee a team of E.R. physicians and residents in training. My favorite part of my job is the team, the E.R. team, my colleagues. The fear of this coming back is the hardest part now, and thinking about those we have lost that we weren’t able to help and really weren’t able to honor in the end, or their families weren’t able to honor in the manner they would have wanted to. Facing the day brings a mixture of emotions. There is the anxiety of just returning to the scene of so much death and illness and pain and suffering. There’s the hope that we never have to see this again in our entire careers. Definitely coming home is a different story. Then I think all of us have trouble sleeping, trouble resting. Even though it seems quiet now, I don’t think any of us are at peace.” *From a special three-page article by the same name in a national newspaper.
What can we learn from Dr. Sylvie de Souza? First, something as evil as COVID-19 has given her a most positive gift: “the value of human connection” resulting in both vulnerability and gratitude, a reminder that God really does waste nothing and brings good out of bad.
Second, she is able to recognize and address her “mixture of emotions” rather than simply deny them. Emotions are gifts from God and can actually serve us well as we explore them. Left unattended, they can exhaust us.
Third, she can identify the elusiveness of peace: “I don’t think any of us are at peace,” an acknowledgement that opens the door for “… the peace of God that transcends all understanding.” Philippians 4:7. We can’t seek what we don’t acknowledge we need.
Reflective questions: Sylvie, a French form of Sylvia, a forest dweller. Will you pray for her for that peace that she confesses is elusive, especially in her “mixture of emotions”? What of the three lessons she has for us speaks most to you? Why?
Reflective Scripture: Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
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