20-22 Covid-19 Daily Reflections

  A young fellow called me yesterday and let me know that he is planning to get married later this summer and would like to know whether I will be able to celebrate their wedding. It was rather a refreshing call because many phone calls I have received lately are not happy ones. He was excited and told me that together they have started their search for a house. He then told me about the real reason for his call. He wonders whether I would meet with both of them due to Covid-19 to walk through a period of preparation with them. For me, it is both a privilege and a responsibility to take on that role in someone's life and I won't take it lightly. So I asked them to think about a few questions before our first meeting: A) Why marriage? Many people nowadays just chose to live together? Why didn't they consider that option? B) Why each other? Have they known much about each other's personal and family history? What would they appreciate about each other's fa...

    Listening to the news can be a dangerous thing to do to our mental health and emotional well-being. We are bombarded with constant new developments and most of them are tragic. It might not be a bad idea to go on a diet away from the news so that we can regain some sense of sanity. We have to decide how we would like to invest our time to preserve our well-being. It might be helpful for us to learn about true heroes in human history. Read about men and women who have been able to make a difference in life, have been using their gifts to make others better and have invested greatly in their passion for pursuing truth in various learning disciplines. Men and women who dare to go outside the accepted paradigm of their time to see the world in a completely different light. Who are these people in your life? It might even better to learn from the true servants of humanity. Men and women who would sacrifice their lives with the hope that the oppressed, the poor, ...

  Sometimes when we listen to the news too much, we find ourselves become indifferent toward what we hear. It is the nature of news reporting and the rush for the latest developments sometimes takes discernment and wisdom in news reporting. Terminologies like "The Situation Room", "Fox Files", "The 11th Hour"...all carry a sound of self-importance. As I am slowly re-engaging in my daily activities, one thing I realized that people are tired of the negativity and they are worried about the future. There are many questions and the answers are not coming fast enough. It could be true that this pandemic has put our entire political and economic frameworks into question. Even what we cherish as civil, compassionate, and equal society has been on fragile ground. People are crying for leadership and we are still waiting. Many political leaders in Canada are now making noise about the systemic abuse of elderly people in long term care facilities. It ...

  Most of us have a favourite food that we would love to have whenever we have a chance. It doesn't have to be something fancy. It is just something that has a lot of association with our childhood, our years of growing up, or family and our specific experience. One of my endearing Vietnamese dishes is Pork Belly Stew and Egg (Trứng Heo Kho). Memories are just flooding back whenever I have that dish. Food provides us with a sense of identity. My wife was born in the Midwest USA and they talk about Catfish. We go down to further south in Georgia, then it is fried chicken. Clam chowder is what people rave about in Boston. Then if you end up being in Quebec Canada, poutine is your game...it gives a sense of comfort in knowing where we belong. Food is what people do when they gather. How many times we heard people say that the most used room in their house is the kitchen. It is a place where good families gather, especially during a holiday. Food tends to be the backgroun...

  Things that used to be normal now become precious. Things we used to do without much worry now we have to think twice about it. Nothing can be more troublesome than grandparents cannot come and visit their grand kids, friends can just gather for a meal or a drink, children cannot come and see their elderly parents in nursing homes, parents cannot come home and hug their kids because of their jobs, good friends cannot shake hands and embrace, families cannot go to ballparks and have fun together, ...there are so many things. When we think about these unfortunate facts, what should we pray for? Pray that we don't lose our humanity. We are created for community and family. When we lose that aspect of our life, we might lose more than we are aware of. Suddenly we become tenser and wonder what others might give to us and vice versa. Staying emotionally engaged while physically distancing is not an easy task. We can "zoom" as much as we like and that doesn't ...

  Most of the public festivals and events in many big cities in Canada have been canceled until the end of August. People will not travel as much and as often. Life will be quite different for many of us as the summer comes along. There is no need for us to complain about how things cannot be. There are still plenty of things to consider with the time and the opportunities we have. Many non-profit organizations are calling for help from volunteers and asking for support in donations as the needs of many unfortunate segments of our societies have increased. What would be the benefits for us personally by looking at these opportunities? Learning how to listen to others on crisis prevention phone line will help us to understand comfort. The more we allow ourselves to walk with those who are mourning, the deeper we understand that God is the source of all comfort. Learning how to be generous with our time and resources will enhance our understanding of our lives meaning...

  Some of you might know that my elderly father (99 years old) was diagnosed with Covid-19 in early May. He is a resident of a nursing home in Montreal and that facility was contaminated by workers who traveled from one nursing home to another. After two weeks of quarantine, he was tested twice and both tests came back negative so he is officially clear from the virus. Although we as a family are grateful for the news, we find ourselves grieving with other families who have lost their loved ones who were in the same nursing home. The information we received is 12 have died and more than 40 others are being treated and quarantined. There are 120 residents in the home. We can experience great joy and unfathomable sorrow at the same time. Both experiences simply confirm to me the presence of God in life. Joy tells me about the goodness of God. Sorrow reveals to me the identification of God in human suffering. They are at the different ends of the spectrum of life experie...