A Blessing in the Midst of a Pandemic

“Blessed is planet earth in the midst of a pandemic, Positioned in the milky way galaxy and continuing to orbit, As people all over the globe fight for their very lives.

Blessed is each and every country, Who are doing the best with the resources they have, And navigating an unprecedented situation with limited equipment, funds, and support.

Blessed are the Chinese, the Asians, and the Asian-Americans Who are experiencing discrimination and racist violence For something that they are equally scared of and equally powerless to control.

Blessed is Italy and New York.

Blessed are the healthcare workers pulling long and dangerous shifts without proper equipment, to save the lives of people they’ve never even met. Blessed are their family members. Blessed, blessed, blessed, are the nurses who hold the hand of victims as they pass from this life, because their family can’t.

Blessed are the grocery workers, the sanitation crews, the farmers, the pilots, the truck drivers, the postal workers, the food deliverers and grocery shoppers-they are the people who are keeping this world in motion.

Blessed are those that are having to make the impossible decision between going to work in unsafe conditions and not earning a paycheck.

Blessed are the teachers. Dear God, bless the teachers.

Blessed are the government officials making difficult decisions against popular opinion to protect the health and safety of their people. Blessed are those who are doing it well.

Blessed is Dr. Fauci, and Governor Cuomo for keeping us informed and sane during insane times.

Blessed is the World Health Organization and the United Nations for doing their best to unite us across countries, religions, cultures, and socio-economic status.

Blessed are the celebrities who are donating and raising money for a cure and a vaccine when the government won’t. Blessed are the scientists who are searching for answers.

Blessed are those who grieve for closure they will never receive, for loved ones lost to utterly unfair deaths, and an isolation that for them, will never come to an end.

Blessed are the traumatized, the fearful, and the anxious; Those who can’t work during the day or who can’t sleep at night, Those who stay busy to combat fear, those who binge watch/eat/drink to numb their fear, and those who simply don’t know how to handle their fear and feel like they’re losing it.

Blessed are the single people facing this alone and truly self-isolating for an inhumane amount of time. Blessed is technology and the people who run it for keeping us connected while physically apart.

Blessed are those who are doing their part by staying home, by wearing masks, by washing their hands, and by sharing what they have with others.

Blessed are the mask-makers, the breweries making hand sanitizer, the people leaving surprise deliveries on people’s doorstep, and the kids coloring rainbows and making chalk art on their driveways.

Blessed are the counselors, the therapists, and the faith leaders who are carrying people with an incredible amount of weight through an incredibly dark and difficult time.

Blessed are the parents doing their best to homeschool and teach invaluable lessons to kids that just want to play with their friends, and don’t understand why they can’t return to school.

Blessed are the faithful, the faithless, the hopeful, the hopeless, the peaceful, the restless, the fearful, the calm, the healthy, the sick, the high-risk, the low-risk, the introverts, the extroverts, and the weary.

And blessed are YOU. Wherever you live, whatever country you are from, whatever state of stay-at-home order you are currently under or coming out of, whatever your experience with all this has been, and whatever you are going through…may you be blessed, each and every day, until we can all be present and hug one another again.

Amen.” Written by Amber Cantorna, Copyright, April 2020 A video of me reading this blessing to you can be viewed here.