In Pursuit of the Present Yet to Be

Or, In Pursuit of The Particularly Precious Prescient Present Yet to Be

(Written during the “Go home. Stay there. Wash your hands. Keep away from people.” days of the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020.)

In her book, On Death and Dying, 

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross 

Calls it “bargaining.”

It is one of her “stages of death.”

She uses it to talk about the

Big bargains we try to make 

With God:

 “Let the search plane

Find me before I die and I’ll

Devote my life to pursuing 

World Peace for All People.”

Big stuff like that.

The US, in large part

Through a failure of

Governmental leadership,

Now leads the world.

In the unenviable category

Of COVID-19 deaths.

There is no way that is not

Tragic.

And so the bargains

Go up from ICUs

Around the nation.

But there are also

Bargains with a twist.

Since the virus has,

For many, 

Perhaps even most,

Mild or no symptoms,

These bargains center on

What we will do if

“I dodge the virus

And life could just get 

back to NORMAL 

before I die of boredom!”

It goes like this: [You may read aloud.]

Please God, let life get

Back to normal and

I promise to:

Stop touching my face.

Keep washing my hands.

Pay more attention to

The people in my life.

Be nicer to my partner.

Smile at my neighbors.

Thank every healthcare

Worker I ever encounter.

Always thank cashiers.

Waiters, too.

Call my parents more often.

Call my children more often.

Walk the dog more often.

Thank trees.

Thank birds.

Thank flowers.

Thank Birds of Paradise.

Both the birds and the flower.

[....Insert your bargains here.

Repeat as necessary.]

So, God, do we have a bargain?

Wadda say, Big Guy?

A little back to normal?

A little regular old-fashioned everyday?

Please, please, please?

Amen.