Reunited

After four weeks of being separated, Sadie and Teddy were on their hind legs, pawing the air and each other. After a quick ritual sniff, they then raced around the yard, thru their tunnel, and under the ramp over and over again. All this was accompanied by joyful yips until finally, they swanned by the water bowl, then collapsed into their bed, intertwined in a dachshund knot. “Reunited, and it feels so good,” as the song says.

I can’t help but think this wholehearted joy is how we may feel when we finally shed our masks, socialize freely, travel without restrictions, sing a worship song at church, chat with neighbors close up, go to and have parties, eat in a restaurant, work out in a gym, go to a concert or a museum, and hug, hug, hug all those we love. We will be able to gather to say goodbye to those we lost, and the rituals and holidays that fill our calendars will return. 

If we look hard through all the chatter clouding the airwaves, we can see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. And yet here we are on the cusp of a new year, and life seems very dark. I think of the Thomas Fuller quote, “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” I pray that this is true and that the faint rays of the dawn of hope will light the whole world with the joy of reunion. 

And that is my fervent wish for 2021: that the closeness, the touching, the freedom to gather and to freely move about will be ours in this coming year. Reunited. And it will feel so good.