Spirituality and Wellness
Lloyd Den Boer
Building Connections
Just outside the window , the late fall afternoon was glorious . Our farm dog sprawled lazily in a patch of sun on the lawn . Across the farmyard , the pigs lay about in their pens , quiet in the warmth of the afternoon sun — except for an occasional piggy scuffle . The cows grazed placidly in a distant pasture . My dad crossed the farmyard on a tractor , pulling a heavily loaded wagon , and the dog trotted off to join him at the grain bin . If I waited patiently , I would see Dad return with an empty wagon shortly , crossing the farmyard again , on his way back to the fields .
What I observed was no more than an ordinary fall day , but , from my perch on a counter in Mom ’ s kitchen pantry , each piece of it seemed marvellous . I longed to burst out of the house , to feel the contrast between the warm fall sun and the cool fall breeze on my skin , to run with our dog to meet Dad at the grain bin , and to beg for a ride to the field on his tractor . However , I was confined to my perch , too sick to be allowed outside , and too well to spend more time in bed . Some six decades later , I still remember the longing of that afternoon . These days , I sometimes recognize a similar feeling in my response to life during COVID-19 .
A desire not to be separated from life , but to be with others and take part in joint activities , lies deep within us . As John Donne , the seventeenth-century British poet , wrote , “ No man is an island entire of itself .” Nor is any woman , as we now would add . If we didn ’ t recognize our need to belong before , the experience of a pandemic has taught it to us . In the last two years , who among us has not longed for free access to the people , places , and activities that we used to enjoy ? These connections once seemed ordinary . Now they seem precious .
COVID-19 taught us more about belonging . We also learned that there is no “ us ” and “ them ” in
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