Category: Meditations

In 12 Step programs there is a step that talks about “being restored to sanity”. To me, sanity is serenity, and, like many people, my serenity has been in short supply these past few days. I have found myself anxious and fearful from a combination of the raging Pandemic, widespread joblessness and suffering, and waiting for the results of our Presidential election.

This morning, like a gift, the song “God will take care of you” was running through my mind when I awoke. It is an old, old hymn from my grandmother’s time. The lines are old-fashioned but I find them so reassuring right now:

When I went back to work after my second daughter was born, I had a constant fear like an ache in my stomach.

Shannon was six months old and Liz was two and a half. I had to get them out of bed in the morning, dress and feed them, and take them to the sitter’s house. After I finished work for the day, I would bring them home, cook supper, and feed them. My husband was a terrific partner and parent when he was home, but he had a long commute into Chicago from the suburbs, and he worked late and traveled often.

I was terribly afraid, afraid that I wouldn’t have the stamina to work fulltime while caring for very two young children. Plenty of times, I was so tired when I got to work in the morning that the day ahead seemed overwhelming.