I feel so badly for folks who are (maybe for the first time) isolated, and their movements restricted. They were so used to doing what they wanted, seeing whomever they wanted, and going wherever they wanted to go. Now they are confined, kept from their loved ones, and there are so many boundaries — like even where they can stand in a grocery store!
I am writing because I feel concern and empathy for the socially distanced, those sheltered-in, the ones who cannot work, and those who are living the “new normal” because of coronavirus. I am distressed for them because they aren’t used to this like I and others like me are.
Over the years I have endured a dozen or so spinal surgeries, with metal hardware. Then I was diagnosed with an incurable disease that will only get worse. All this to say (not for pity, but for perspective) that I know about isolation, and I know a bit about being in too much pain to work, not being able to do much of what I once enjoyed, and unable to see loved ones as much as I like.
I would like to use this letter to let you know there are folks out there who live permanently with a coronavirus lifestyle. They routinely live without many privileges, and loneliness is part of an ordinary day. I think of the disabled, veterans suffering with PTSD, the depressed and anxiety-ridden, tormented and controlled domestic violence victims, the elderly, folks like me that live with chronic pain, and those who are paralyzed with a myriad of phobias.
I am able to serve with two online Christian ministries. I am eternally grateful to God for the opportunity to be used for His Glory and my own good. So now I will say a prayer for all who have or have been affected by coronavirus. My hope is that this will be over soon for you for whom these past months have been an unbearable burden. For some of us things won’t change much even when they lift the bans and restrictions. We too need prayer. We don’t want to get resentful or compare our suffering with anyone else’s, because that can become a kind of deadly virus all its own.
Claudette Palatsky
Everett
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