Blueberry delight

 

This past Sunday was one of those days when we most certainly would have skipped church in the "before pandemic" times. We woke up to everything encased in ice, with continuous pellets raining down throughout the day - too intimidating to leave the house. Here's a view from my family room window:

What a perfect day to stay in, to stay put. Oh, hey - you mean JUST LIKE WE HAVE BEEN DOING SINCE LAST MARCH? hahahahaha

Hasn't it become almost an art form to find a silver lining in the unexpected forced isolation of say inclement weather on top of all the isolation we are already experiencing, day in and day out? 

So, there we were, stuck at home.

I decided to bake a small batch of blueberry muffins to brighten the day, something a little different, a delicious indulgence before we settled into our virtual church service. Yes, we are almost at the one year anniversary of our church offering Zoom services every Sunday. These have been a true gift, allowing us to be in community with others, to hear inspirational words, and basically to never have to miss church again. We've been amused and amazed by our regular attendance - is it the ONLY thing to do? Or the chosen thing to do? I believe it's the latter - I always come away from the service with a sense of peace and hope, feeling nourished and soothed. 

Back to those blueberry muffins. I was following a new recipe and my timing was all off, meaning that they came out of the oven a mere three minutes before our virtual church service. There was not even enough time for them to cool down before the service, certainly, no time to eat them. I left them on the cooling rack, wishing that I had been more organized with my timing. 

We logged onto the Zoom session, just listening in - we always turn off our video feed. The house began to fill with the delicious smell of those muffins. 

We looked at each other. 

Smiled. 

Then, we jumped up and grabbed one of those muffins to eat right then and there! 

Yes, we had this whole surprise, unexpected moment of warm blueberry extraordinariness in the midst of church, bringing prayer and contemplation to a whole new wild level in my mind. For this child of parochial schools, it felt delightfully irreverent and harmlessly naughty. It was a moment of rebellion and radical fun that my own heart so needed in the midst of all this stuckness.

I do believe we're going to miss some aspects of this time of isolation.

"There's something to be said for keeping prayer simple"  - Anne Lamott

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I wrote this post for Slice of Life.  All participants are writing about one moment, one part of their day, on Tuesdays. Thank you, Two Writing Teachers!