In this extraordinary time,
what motivates you to keep going?
Newman Choir
First, I have used this shelter-in-place break to plant 2 elegant Japanese maples, 1 beautiful hydrangea, 24 tomato plants and 10 pink geraniums. This has both beautified our garden and has given much needed business to our local nurseries.
Second, I and three members of my physics research group have been stymied by a complicated problem in our research for the last 3 years. The stress connected with covid-19 plus the less hurried schedule has stimulated our creative juices which, in turn, has resulted in a major breakthrough in our research all worked out over Zoom. We now have a strategy going forward for the next three years.
BOB BIRGENEAU
I relish the good company of my wife, since she's now working from home. The unfolding of spring in my garden and the hills is beautiful, and the quiet mood of the city is nice. I saw a turkey strutting around a busy parking lot, a deer walking just off College Avenue, and a man on horseback passed by my office on College yesterday! We can think about how to make the world better, but also how to make our lives simpler and better. I call and email lots of people, especially single folks stuck at home. Streaming Mass is working for me, but I do miss the congregation. I suppose we now are like God always is - wanting to contact and love people, but there are many roadblocks in 'normal' times. To what extent do we habitually shelter at home, from God and our neighbors?
I do find myself whistling Newman songs.
KIRK PETERSON
I feel so blessed because my adult children are supportive and help me.
I have learned to shop on line so that almost every day I receive a package! It’s kind of fun.
I’ve lived in my house over 50 years. I like to sit on my front yard and remember the sweet days as a stay at home mom and the women and kids I used to hang out with.
I’ve not been out of my yard since Feb 26!
Guess not going anywhere very soon
That it, thanks for asking.
GERRY LAZAR
What keeps me going is community. Even if we can’t physically be together, the text messages and phone calls I send and receive each day are powerful reminds that social distancing doesn’t mean we are isolated.
JOSPEH RAMELO
The Creator has given us a chance to support and love others, even when there is confusion everywhere!
KENNETH REID
What gets me through these times is being with my family.
ANON
Scientifically, I know that the vibrations of our voices follow the same pathways in the brain as comfort (and pain relief). Spiritually, I miss the blend of our voices in communal singing, that so lifts my soul. Singing is my most favorite form of Praise. I'll read a phrase of scripture and immediately my brain switches to one of the sogs that were built from those phrases. We will truly be rejoicing, for many reasons, when we finally get to share our Masses together again!
MARIE RETHERFORD
I would like to encourage people to remember in this trying time to be grateful for even the smallest things in our lives right now. A verse that resonates with me greatly during this pandemic is Luke 12:48, which says that "to whom much has been given, much will be required." I've been blessed with a healthy family, opportunity to finish my last semester at Berkeley and the privilege to stay at home, yet I realize that not all are as fortunate as I am. With this in mind, I am motivated more than ever to find ways to help others in any way that I can as well as to graduate and make my family proud.
ANON
We are trying to be very hopeful and stay positive each day as we stay sheltered at home. Our days have been very busy trying to do things at home, like cleaning out closets and drawers, catching up on phone calls with family and friends, food shopping for shut in neighbors, taking daily walks, doing computer work, reading, listening to music, catching up on movies and praying a lot. We have been reflecting on how fortunate we are to be healthy, and not dealing with many of the problems that others are facing as a result of this pandemic. For us this has been a temporary inconvenience which we are hoping and praying will end soon for everyone. We miss our Newman family and look forward to the day when we can all be back at Newman together.
ALFREDA & RICH CAMPOS
What keeps me inspired these days - prayer, music practice and exchange, spiritual reading, nature walks and communicating with family and friends, has not changed too much. Only now, I feel these connections have deepened and are less interrupted. The world is now moving at the pace I am used to - much more slowly. It is giving me more time to remember all the gifts that I have in this life and to give gratitude to God more often. Although I feel sad at the state of the world and those who have been the most affected, when I hear the heroic stories of how people are helping one another, I have a lot of hope that coming through this tragedy we will have created new avenues of love that will continue well beyond the pandemic.
JOAN ALLEKOTTE
Thanks for reaching out - it has been a strange couple of weeks and celebrating Easter virtually was surreal! We’ve been so fortunate to be safe throughout this period and have been truly shocked by the hardships others are facing. The least we can do is shelter in place and have faith things will return to normal - I’d have to say I draw a tremendous amount of inspiration from the Sunday sermons delivered via YouTube and seeing the random acts of kindness throughout the Bay Area during such trying times.
I hope you and the Newman family are safe and thank you for hosting mass on YouTube for everyone.
ANTHONY FERNANDO
I miss going to mass and being in community, as I'm sure many people do.
During this time, I am spending plenty of time in the kitchen - cooking, cleaning, pondering with YouTube communal prayers on in the background...the Rosary, Divine Mercy Chaplet, Holy Cloak of St Joseph, various archangel prayers, prayers of hope and protection from fear.
I am also finding music to be heart opening, soul soothing, memory evoking, inspirational, energetic and fun.
Thank you for reaching out. I pray for all souls, as I'm at a bit of a loss of what exactly to pray for these days. Our Lord knows our hearts, and I pray that is enough as we keep moving forward during these times.
My best to you and all of Newman. Be safe, healthy and well!
TRIANE CHANG
Our toddler is the one who is helping us get through this time; watching her grow, seeing her learn and discover new things, and experiencing her abundant joy is the best thing we are experiencing. Since all of my work is now at home, she gets to spend more time with me, and she is so content to have her parents with her all the time. I feel so blessed, and it makes me recognize all the better how the image of God as Father is so powerful--a being who takes joy in watching us grow and change, and one whom we should love to be around and with. Jesus's words that we must be like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven are so poignant to me as I spend time with her.
LEVI CHECKETTS & JIYOUNG KO
During these extraordinary times as the world has been brought to a standstill, I feel that we've all been called to re-evaluate our lives and make some much needed changes within ourselves, as well as globally. It is a unique opportunity for a renewal of faith and values that have been sorely missing in the world. Taken as such, this time could be a real blessing and a reason for hope in better humankind coming out of this crisis.
As now I feel the need for spiritual connection with God probably more than ever before I find encouragement in daily gospel reflections I signed up for with Bishop Robert Barron. It can be found under dailycatholicgospel.com and it provides me with a wonderful start to a new day each morning. Hope you will find it useful.
Love and blessings to all!
JOANNA BIK
I’ve been spoiled by the sweet oversight of two of our kids and have suffered little except for the passing of my old dog, Nellie. I write for a blog, curse the news, sleep too much, walk, trim roses, pay bills and even pray a bit. Oh, yes, I sing in the shower.
The worst: I truly miss the Mass.
JACK COONS
I've certainly found that prayer and connecting with the Newman community via the livestream Mass helps a lot. We're lucky enough to have both of our sons home, so spending time with them has helped a lot. We've taken to playing a nightly match of badminton in the backyard after dinner. The combination of exercise, fresh air, family togetherness and silliness always sets my spirit right.
GRACE & CHRIS SHANNON
Hope is what has always motivated me. We prepare for the worst, but we also hope for the best. In particular, during this extraordinary time, we must not lose it.
ALEX CHAN
We're staying busier than before the shutdown, though keeping to the house. Joan has been training dozens and dozens of folks in using Zoom, both friends and in Rotary. We both have helped our nonprofit boards and groups shift committee and Board meetings to Zoom, as well as clubs' weekly Rotary meetings with Zoom. Our Berkeley Rotary meeting draws more than 70 each week - trivial compared to our masses.
I've staged and been to three whisky tastings by Zoom and one socially distanced backyard tasting with Newman Hall friends. Joan stays busy with friends hiking and birdwatching each day, while masking and social distancing. Most of my long put-off house projects are about done. Yet we've got months to go. I've got a Zoom lecture to give in a week on the housing problems of recent decades, which will be interesting to do. Our daughter and grandchildren from Bishop are visiting and staying with us this weekend - they figure it's the last time they can safely travel by car, since the tourists will be swarming their town and bringing the virus. My daughter, spouse and grandkids from NYC will arrive a week or so later by plane, quarantine for two weeks in a rental unit, and then stay with us several weeks. All our kids' household have been in confinement religiously for 7 weeks or so, doing jobs or schoolwork from home. Zoom family reunions are now weekly - a good innovation that the pandemic and Zoom made feasible.
Our big worry is that the doctors tell us we can't travel to NY state for our son's wedding in Sept. - unless there's a vaccine, which is most unlikely.
We've enjoyed the Sunday 10 am mass and the chatroom each week since shutdown, and are impressed at how superb the preaching has consistently been at each mass.
FRED & JOAN COLLIGNON
Greg and I are working from home and doing great. Thanks Father Ivan and all the staff for looking in on us. I've been enjoying the live masses on FB, keep them up.
FRANCISCO & GREG
Both I and my parents are staying afloat and I thank God for that. As to how I remain positive: I have been blessed by God with a thirst for knowledge and a hunger for information. I have no shortage of things I need to research. Additionally, I am also blessed with my place in Auburn which I am at every other week. I relish the opportunity I have to become a part of its natural surroundings. The wild turkeys now look at me as one of them and feel very comfortable being near me as they are looking for food and I am picking weeds. I know that not everybody has these God-given opportunities but I guess anyone can ask questions and find answers on google and spend time in nature no matter how small the patch is.
DEBRA DUFFAUT
Compiled by Colleen Lenord