Dear Friends,
Looking back over 38 years of travel work, I’ve had few interruptions. Beginning with work in the rape crisis in 1982 and AIDS pandemic in 1983, I’ve been able to move and learn as necessity demanded and keep going. There has been a car emergency here and there, a few sick days, and no natural disasters. Not bad for almost four decades of traveling through and working in 47 states and 5 countries. I’m grateful for all of it.
Now comes this virus so contagious and fast moving that all my habits of packing the car for yet another tour come to a halt, dangerously total and non-negotiable. A breath may cause another’s death. What’s to be done? Requests to move online came in early March. “Could you give that keynote via video?” “Could you speak to our yearly meeting about pastoral care online?” Calls and notes come from front line workers seeking encouragement. Suggestions were needed in the new, indescribable conditions that threatened thousands. “What shall we do with our fear?” It and grief now come by truck loads. “What disciplines are possible?” “Can witness be made gracefully?” I’m now on YouTube to say how.
So the work shifts. Maybe I won’t be back on the road for a while. What I have to share about difficult work in hard places, where the witness is painful, the threats real, and the tasks impossible – well, that’s my neighborhood and I have lots to offer. My history has been preparation. The trauma of this new pandemic calls for good work by many. I’m glad to be of use on many levels. Is seems paid work is decreased and my dependence of gifts is larger now. Not being one who is easy with this kind of suspense, I hope you will help me keep going. I hope I will have it soon and over the coming year. Thank you for all these years of pragmatic support and practical care. Your kindness and help has meant more good work gets done. Much good needs doing. Thank you.
In the Light,
John Calvi, May 2020