Wait, Hope & Rejoice

The last few weeks have most certainly been….something else. The Advent season was wonderful. It was full of music, decorations, Christmas markets, and prayer — all rooted in waiting and hoping for the joy and peace that Christmas brings. As Christmas Eve and Day approached, we faced some obstacles due to COVID-19 and weren’t able to sing as fully as we would have in the choir. However, we belted out and harmonized to each hymn in the pews at all three Masses. Christmas Day was spent in our living room with gift exchanges and all of the Christmas movies that we needed to catch up on watching. It was a day that we all needed as each one of us were craving rest and leisurely time to bond as a community. I think Sammie, Morgan, Dan, and I can all say that Christmas Day here in Dublin was something special because well…we haven’t been together as a group ever since!

As COVID cases rose in Ireland, so too did the cases within our community as three of the four of us have now experienced the wrath of Omicron. One positive test, then another a week later, and another shortly after that. Isolations have seemed never-ending, with many books and Netflix series being completed during this time of waiting for COVID to pass. The days have been full of songs, whether that be Sammie and Dan playing their guitars, Morgan strumming her ukulele, or me plunking away on my piano. Our Christmas decorations remain in the halls and living room, waiting for the day that we can actually gather to put them in boxes once again (we put them up so late that they deserve this extra time anyways). Virtual bonding returned to our community as we have all FaceTimed or called each other frequently including a “House of Brigid Jeopardy” Zoom game that Sammie created for our entertainment. I’d say that we are all okay, but we can’t help but wait and hope as if it’s our second Advent of the year.

We wait and hope for health.

We wait and hope for in person joy.

We wait and hope to all live in our home at the same time.

We wait and hope to be one again.

Before the chaos, Sammie taught Dan and I how to press roses. I shoved a yellow rose in a random page of my Bible to be pressed for two weeks…and then the two weeks became four. I remembered the rose today and opened to see what it had become during its extended isolation in my Bible. It’s beautiful, I love it, but what I really needed to see was the page that my rose had been pressed up against for weeks.

Psalm 69: A Cry of Anguish in Great Distress

Save me, God,

for the waters have reached my neck.

I have sunk into the mire of the deep,

where there is no foothold.

I have gone down to the watery depths;

the flood overwhelms me.

I am weary with crying out;

my throat is parched.

My eyes fail,

from looking for my God.

…

But I will pray to you, Lord,

at a favorable time.

God, in your abundant kindness, answer me

with your sure deliverance.

Rescue me from the mire,

and do not let me sink.

My prayer life has sounded a lot like the Psalm above during my intense waiting and hoping for joy and peace over the last few weeks. My eyes have been weary from tears, my throat has been parched mostly because of COVID symptoms (ha), and I have been endlessly searching for God in every dark moment and feeling.

“Rescue me from the mire, and do not let me sink.” (me everyday for the last 22 days but less poetic and probably a bit more explicit)

After weeks of looking for God and catching some glimpses of light in the darkness along the way, I find that a reunion with my community is truly going to be the answer to all of my desperate prayers. Sure, God’s abundant kindness is washing over me and delivering me from COVID symptoms and isolation, but it is my community members that will completely lift me out of the “deep.”

When we are weary, we have each other to cry out to.

When the floods overwhelm us, it is each one of us that can help pull us back to the surface.

When we are desperately searching for God, it is our faith-filled community that can lead our eyes to Him.

As I post this, the HoB Dub crew will be experiencing what feels like our “second Christmas Day” as we finally all return to our home after being apart. Our “second,” joyful Christmas season will probably consist of playing a lot of music, reminiscing/processing the chaos that has occurred, making new memories, praying together, having meals together, and just simply being one again. How excited am I to just be ONE, again (in case you couldn’t tell!!!).

We have waited.

We have hoped.

And now we rejoice.