Apr 1 2020 The Lord’s Prayer

Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil.
Every day at least once, I pray this prayer. During these strange times, it takes on a more urgent nature.

The pandemic rages on. Schools are expected to be closed through the end of the school year. A doctor predicted that the peak of cases and deaths in Oregon will be early May, and people are resorting to bandanas as make-shift face masks. Save us from the time of trial.

My sick loved one will be returning to our home today, after nearly three weeks in the hospital. Since January 1, they’ve been hospitalized all but 18 days. They have refused what the doctors believe would be a better course of treatment. Their illness is persistent, insidious, and cruel. Save us from the time of trial.

We are stuck in the house and trying desperately to live normal lives. All we’re doing is working from home, right? Nope. This is not the same as normal, but at home. We’re effectively under house arrest, and when we leave our homes, there’s fear of catching a crippling virus. Save us from the time of trial.

And today, I’ll be adding someone to my quarantined house who has a persistent, significant mental health diagnosis. It has always been challenging to provide adequate separation, and concurrent support. That will be harder. It has always been challenging to provide meaningful opportunities for social interaction for our sick loved one. That will be harder. In the 18 days they’ve been at our home, they’ve struggled to feel safe, make forward progress in their life’s plan, and stay out of the hospital. That will be harder too. Save us from the time of trial.

It feels like the trial is upon us.

So what do we make of this prayer? Is God not listening? Maybe it’s about the trial, how we define the trial, and all of the trials we are saved from that we don’t even know were averted. The pandemic could be worse, I could be still in a small apartment, my loved one could be on the streets or they could be violent. I’m not suggesting that this is the time to look on the bright side. But there is something to the idea that we should be grateful for the blessings we have, even in the midst of trials.

Or maybe we are supposed to continue to pray to be saved from trials, even when we’re in the midst of them because in prayer, we join our voice with others, and with God. To pray while in this hard place is to acknowledge that God is with me; I am not alone.

This morning, I’m thinking about trials, and whether to prayer to be saved from them is about being entirely protected from trials, or acknowledging that we’re sometimes in trials, but never alone.