park and pray at 1:11

Have you ever read a blog and felt like having a conversation with your inner self about it?

I’d like to hear your thoughts after reading my blog, inspired by this blogger’s message, “http://www.beautybeyondbones.com/Covid-19 NYC, a city flatlined.”

The story in Beauty Beyond Bones captured the pulse of my prayers for NYC and other communities that feel flatlined by the Covid-19 pandemic. The author of the blog, a resident of New York City, said, “NYC flatlined.” The NYC that I know and love is a vibrant, bustling, spirited city fueled by the lifeblood of her people. Beauty Beyond Bones wrote about a current Pandemic view of NYC where empty streets, closed businesses and the uncharacteristic silence of a city mourning the loss of many people. I wondered if NYC flatlined. I’ve heard a variety of opinions from my NYC relatives and friends. Most people agree NYC streets are quiet, relatively empty and stillness penetrates the air. Yet, I find stillness can be a strength.

As a former NYC resident I imagine her pulsating through this second tragedy in two decades. Several years after 911 the city was filled with tension and restless anticipation of another tragedy. This is certainly an indescribable time in our country’s history. My heart goes out to anyone who lost loved ones. Sending my deepest condolences. I hope all who suffer find relief, healing, comfort and peace.

We are called to separate from friends and loved ones during crushing times in our lives. Many learned to pray and plead for God’s presence in ERs, waiting rooms, ICUs and wherever Social Distancing dictates. NYC is getting ready for this next sprint where she presses on toward the mark of her higher call. If, NYC and any community shows up for the race toward less contaminated fields without their shoestrings tied they could experience flatlines instead of a finish line. The prospects for success are shady without essentials such as, protective equipment, tests supplies and the means for processing Covid results.

NYC and other communities struck by the Covid-19 virus may appear lifeless or flatlined due to the numbers of deaths and sickness. It’s difficult to rebound when so many people are still sick and dying. But, the pulse of life is present and daily recovering. Many thanks for the nurses, doctors and others on the front lines rescuing patients and sacrificing their lives to do so. Let us pray they receive the highest praise by giving them a higher measure of preparation,k and tools to meet the challenges. We can prayerfully wrestle with this pandemic and win while we also embrace the hope of saving lives and our livelihoods.

During my years as a Critical Care Nurse in a New York City Hospital I wore clogs because shoestrings were not dependable in a busy surgical ICU. I cared for many patients including Arthur Ashe during his first Open Heart Surgery. He was young, robust, and vibrant. The standard of care was not compromised or threatened by a lack of equipment or supplies for patients and providers. I recall changing my mask more often during one shift than current nurses do in days.

In some ways, NYC resembles the heart. It’s always beating, pulsating, contracting, and relaxing. Prolonged relaxation without contractions may lead to lethargy. Lethargy May feel like you’re flatlining. Exercise such as marching in place may reduce that feeling, and add cardiovascular benefits. There are other risk factors.

Friends, the tenets of Florence Nightingale’s days during the Crimean War saved lives. She instituted hand washing and reduced infections and the hospital’s death rate by two thirds according to her 1860 publication, “Notes on Nursing.”

“I solemnly pledge myself before God and in the presence of this assembly, to pass my life in purity and to practice my profession faithfully. I will abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and will not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.” (Florence Nightingale)

My faith inspires me to practice speechless praying while examining patients in my clinic. I would pray as I passed my stethoscope across a patient’s chest years before attending seminary and becoming an ordained pastor. The gap between Practitioner and Pastor was a wilderness experience. Some patients sensed my prayers and welcomed the feeling of calm and peacefulness.

If you or someone you know experienced the death of a loved one from this Covid-19 Virus then, feeling flatlined may describe your feelings. Give your self time to grieve. Others should stay in touch with you.

Love never dies. It grows deeper.

As a Nurse, I couldn’t fully process the deaths of my patients until midnight, the end of my shift. During my walks from the hospital to my NYC apartment I experienced NYC as a city that never sleeps. The pulsating skylights seemed to affirm these thoughts. “I did your best, and I trusted God to do the rest. Peace Be With You.”

These days, I write prayer prescriptions(RX) for anxiety, fear, grief, hopelessness, sadness, isolation, insecurities and more. Prescriptions (RX) are free, without risks or adverse effects, and known to benefit all. Prayers are powerful. I call the Higher Power, the Holy One, God, more often these days. “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on…(add name).

Let’s breathe and pray.

Spirit of the living God breathe Light, life, and healing in our lives. Almighty, strengthen our endurance. As we enter the Sanctuary of Your love, build our spiritual relationships with you, and your children.

Let this be the fast that connects us in spirit. Keep us safe. Let us tap into your Power that’s beyond our finite imagination. Help us use this power to serve You and Your will, O God.

Let us bear witness to the gift of faith. O Lord, grow the seeds of caring and compassion within me..

Let’s call You, O Holy Lover, the Great Stream of Light, the Almighty, and the Creator.

Let’s Park and Pray at 1:11 pm., by pressing the reset, and calming the toxic impulses.

We pause, fast, give and stretch our spiritual muscles. We open space for You are Holy, Almighty, a Love Supreme and the Beam of Light pulsating throughout darkness.

We pray, Lord, have mercy on those who are sick, separated, in harms way, and without a place to stay. Help us overcome invisible attacks, losses, feeling flatlined by heartbreaks and heartaches.

We give thanks for our loved ones, especially those who are no longer with us. Help us to live peacefully without them.

Help us to love, comfort and care for one another. Help us to do and to be our best. To trust You, O God will do the rest.

Let us park and pray at 1:11 pm.

Pray these words, “As You will O God, as You will.”

“Thank you God.”