Hand-Washing and Surrender

 

This morning I listened to an interview on CBC Radio's Metro Morning program with a Spiritual Care Practitioner in the Toronto hospital system. I regret that I didn't catch her name, which I regret,  because she offered lots of wisdom and, well, spirituality as she spoke.

 In the earlier portion of the conversation she spoke of the challenges of offering support when interactions must be distanced or virtual. She acknowledged the importance of physical cues, the body language aspect of spiritual care, which is now absent from those conversations and encounters. And, of course. everything has changed in the pandemic in terms of the clusters of family members which are so important when people are ill and dying.

Near the conclusion host Ismaila Alfa asked about the ways in which she experienced spiritual care and support. She spoke of family and her faith community, even though that community can't physically gather at the moment. She went on to mention ritualising the constant hand-washing and use of sanitizer, which is a constant part of her work. She described it as a prayerful moment in which she "surrenders" to the experience. It's an interesting term, and one I associate with Islam, which actually means submission or surrender. 

This fits for all of us these days, wouldn't you say? Some fight the practices of mask-wearing and hygiene with the foolish and selfish notion that they rob us of freedom. Sadly, often the people who are most vocal consider themselves religious and Christian. 

Instead we can regard them as acts of humility and generosity, and allow them to be prayerful. We are still permitted to attend worship, with all the protocols in place. We're really going week-by-week now, wondering if and when this will be shut down. We accept the gift of the moment -- surrendering I suppose. . 

When we go to church the only time we touch anything from the time we enter until we leave is the pump on the jug of hand-sanitizer, I'm now going to consider this as a spiritual moment as I apply the COVID version of holy water.