Notes from my Knapsack 8-6-20

Notes from my Knapsack 8-6-20

Jeff Gill

 

It's really just not fair

___

Normally, he said, starting a paragraph the way too many are beginning these days, I would be preparing to help open the Hartford Fair with an ecumenical worship service Sunday morning, as the sun rises over the Natural Resources pavilion, and with sheep and goats singing out nearby.

 

Nope. Not this year! The least of many losses. More significantly, I won't be eating a corn dog or pulled pork sandwich or fair ice cream barn cone this year. Oh, and I'm resigning my job as a parish minister that Sunday.

 

Yeah, it's been a weird year in many ways. No, I am NOT old enough to retire, and I hope that's not actually what I'm doing . . . though if this all goes on long enough, that's what it will turn out to have been. But my wife and I have roots here in Granville, but each a parent in Indiana, both of whom are quite intent on staying there (hey, it's a nice state in many ways, we're both from there) but each of whom has needs. As people who are moving into the upper end of elderly, their needs require a certain amount of direct support, and I'm going to become a more active part of that plan.

 

We aren't moving, but we do need to be very careful about our social contacts with the general public as we are primary social contacts with our parents. To be blunt, we don't want to transmit coronavirus to them. So going to the fair, or leading a crowd of relative strangers in song, then driving to Indianapolis to help tend to business with a 91 year old who's fine, just fine, thank you very much, and when are you coming next? Nope, that's not going to work.

 

And my resignation is less to do with the complications of church life as it does with the needs and expectations of ministry, which takes me regularly into settings where, even as the congregation itself couldn't be more flexible and careful, I end up in the middle of groups of . . . well, relative strangers who in many cases are not interested in either masks or social distancing. It's not fair, either to me, or to the church I serve, but the fact of being out and around means having to be in contact with people who reject coronavirus precautions, which means I need to leave my job. I am fortunate that I have that flexibility at this juncture in my life, and a great deal of sorrow for those who have the same concerns in their lives, but can't do what I'm doing to protect the people I love.

 

It's not fair, but as my son has heard all through his growing up years, the fair is in Croton, and it's not August . . . except here it is August, and the Harford Fair is on, but I'm not going. Which doesn't seem fair. What I can do is look forward to the day when I can go back, and maybe even sing a hymn, and eat a Trojan Burger. Not at the same time, though.

 

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and pastor in Licking County; he will need to change that tag line in a couple of weeks. Tell him about changes you've had to make during coronatimes at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack on Twitter.