1.One hospital chaplain tells her Covid-19 story. Read more...

I'm a student hospital chaplain. This pivotal year of my life in ministry will be defined forever by COVID-19. …I've prayed the Lord's Prayer more in the last two weeks than I ever have in my whole life (said twice, it's roughly 40-ish seconds). There's high anxiety everywhere I turn, not least of all within myself. I am not the only chaplain in my department coming home at the end of the day, exhausted.

—"Through This Present Mourning” by S. E. Goodwin from Sojourners

2. UM, when did homeschool-ing become so complicated? (Light and funny, promise!) Read more…

Good morning! This is an email to let you know that we will be sending another email later this afternoon. That email will contain a special passcode, and in a separate email, we will send you the link that requires this passcode. After that, we will be sending email updates in fifteen-minute intervals with meeting times you will have to remember for the upcoming week.The first Zoom meeting your child will have is at 6:53 am this morning and the following one will be at 10:07 am. These times have been specifically formatted so that we don’t overuse our server, so please do not attempt to join at 10:00 am, a nice round number that you will more likely remember, or at 8:00 am when your child might actually be awake.

—”Emails from my Children’s School Before 8:00AM During the Covid-19 Crisis,” satire by Anna Royal from McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

3. Tilly’s grandpa was a pastor. And he died of Coronavirus. This is their story. Listen…

Tilly will miss her grandpa for many reasons: Climbing on the roof to look at stars in the middle of summer. Making French toast and popcorn. Kind eyes. These are some of the memories Tilly Breimhorst has of her grandfather, Craig. Today, we talk to her about how she is processing sadness, anger and grief after losing him to coronavirus.

—”Tilly Remembers Her Grandfather” from the podcast The Daily from The New York Times

4. You and everyone you know has started baking bread. So have you ever wondered where sourdough came from? Read more…

Risen bread required an inventor. A culinary champion. Someone with an adventuresome palate to combine their artistry with their courage in a moment of carelessness.Who was this ancient hero, and how did she invent the leavened loaf?

—"Who Figured Out How to Make Leavened Bread?” by Cody Cassidy from Slate

5. We all need some marriage advice. Here’s one expert’s take. (She’s not Christian, but very wise anyway. ;-)) Read more…

…What is essential at this moment… is that we create boundaries, routines, and rituals [at home]. There needs to be, as best as possible, a separation between daytime and evening, week time and weekend, working time and idle time, family time and individual time, moments that are task oriented and moments where we stop for a bit. When we’re going to eat, are we going to reset the table or just push our work stuff away a little bit so that we have room to put a plate down? I think that, more than ever, the routine that creates a structure, that brings a certain sense of order in a world that feels so chaotic and so unsure, is crucial. The ritual is what separates the ordinary and the mundane from something that becomes more elevated, more separated, more sacred. All of these three things are essential.

—”’This is What Happens to Couples Under Stress’: An Interview with Ester Perel,” by Rachel Syme from The New Yorker

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