Pandemic Soul and Sole

Both my soul and my sole graphically illustrate how the three-year pandemic had been for me: stark contrast between worldly pleasures and spiritual treasures. 

The world was in a panic, rushing to discover a vaccine/cure that can manage the Covid-19 virus. 

While at that, my own outer world stopped. Book publishing, which is 90% of my concerns, could not move forward as offices and printing presses closed shop. My part-time teaching job, our family business (medical transcription school), activities such as clan reunions, book talks, church worship and fellowship, etc. were put on hold until . . .?   

SOUL: Since we were at home 24/7 due to health protocols, days blended into nights. It did not matter what time we woke up and what time we went to bed. For the first time, our family broke bread together—morning, noon, and night. Tony and I bonded like we never had before—talking and laughing about anything under the sun. Schedules did not matter because routine was scrapped. 

I was not worried about death or sickness, but concerned about how to manage both. Hospitals and funeral parlors overflowed. Meanwhile, friends were dying here and abroad. Messages of death and anguish filled social media. 

But I knew that by grace, a new day, hope, would never leave, as captured by award-winning artist Glen McGraw’s “PINK Sunrise.”  The tide rolls; the sun shines.

 

I got busy helping with the PINK political campaign of VP Leni, the presidential candidate who symbolized hope. 

I wrote hundreds of hopeful blogs and three books on grace, even if there was no prospect of any ever being published. My Sunday school class for women required me to study Scripture and Theology closely.

Yes, my inner world kept going. There was movement in my soul. 

SOLE: All material things that are worn when going out to face humanity stayed put inside boxes and closets. The new footwear I bought before the pandemic was left idle and untouched. 

None, no movement for my sole. 

ooo

On the first day of face-to-face classes, I shook the dust off my blazers, bags, jewelry, and shoes. While spiritedly lecturing on consumer behavior such as materialism, of all topics, I tripped and fell down the floor. The culprit? My sole! 

It is all too clear, worldly pleasures do not last; spiritual treasures do. 

"Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be." (Matthew 6:20-21)