Yesterday a wild bunny rabbit was in our flower bed, apparently chewing on a bloom or two.  Riuschia ice plants in the back yard are bugeoning with fuscia-pink bloom—supposedly rabbit resistant as well as drought resistant.  In the front yard Shasta daisies return each spring and now are abundant with white and pink bloom with the palm’s orangish crown a promise of new fronds. To add color we included my yellow Mustang and Cindy’s red SUV.  

For some reason our hummingbird has not returned, yet other birds commune on their feeder.  We only feed them once a week because we don’t want them dependent on us.  We are dependent upon them to bring flitting joy to even gray days.  It has been raining for nearly a week-a blessing for drought ridden Southern California.

So God is in control.  God is good.  We look forward to His promises every spring.  The other seasons are pretty good too but we are facing winter in our lifetime so spring, well we look forward to every spring.  

Just yesterday the long lines at Costco and empty shelves at Walmart reminded me of St Petersburg some 30 years ago.  By noon the butcher shop had no meat, the grocery shelves were bare and only the “dollar” store had goods—fine for the bourgeois but too expensive for the prolotariat.  The city had just been renamed after years as Leningrad (1924 to 1991) yet it was grayed out after so many years of communist rule.  Gray—all was gray: the buildings, the people, their lives.

So that gray may not happen to us, we must absolve ourselves of coronavirus panic.  Sure: clean and disinfect, wash your hands often, avoid close contact, cover coughs and sneezes, stay home if you are sick and wear a facemask, seek medical help by calling your doctor or medical facility.  Be calm (yes, easier said than done), it will be over at some point.

Pastor Rick Warren offers these suggestions:

1. Remember not everything you hear is true—act out of knowledge.
2. Remember not everyone is at equal risk—older folk should be extra cautious to prevent exposure.
3. Remember this will pass—it is temporary.
4. Remember to focus on what is unchanging—the promises of spring are only months away again and again and again.
5. Remember no matter where you are, God is with you—replace worry with prayer and humility.
6. Remember this is not the end.

We are resiliant, as resiliant as spring.  Everyday toilet paper is manufactured right here in the United States.  Water still comes out of your faucet.  Electricity still hums to your house.  Some giant truck and trailer full of food is rumbling towards a store near you.  

Maybe Riuschia ice plant flowers or leaves are edible.  And just in case you run out, Fuki leaves are, in the order of use: edible or wipeable.  Of course, wash your hands after….