The Season of Goodwill

Times are hard for many, many people right now. Whilst our current existence is sometimes a struggle, and the constancy of John’s various conditions make life quite a tough challenge, we don’t particularly class ourselves as being in the ‘hardship’ bubble. So I was overwhelmed this morning when the doorbell rang to find Claire, from church, on our doorstep, bearing gifts.

“This is to let you know we are thinking of you,” she said. “There’s no need to cry….” she added, as tears sprang up, unsolicited. I didn’t know what to say. To know that there a people in the local community thinking of us, is just beyond words. I am so, so grateful. I can’t tell you what a boost it has given us. Massive thanks to them all.

In other news, we are plodding on and prepping for a hoped-for Christmas get-together next week to celebrate the season of goodwill. The children are off school, the adults are mostly working from home, lateral flow tests (when we can get them!) are being used liked billy-o in order to be sure that the risk of COVID is limited. However, the rate of knots at which the infection rate is rising is worrying. And some of our number may not be quite as careful as we are, so it’s a bit in the balance. Fingers crossed……

On the plus side, John hasn’t been too bad in the last week or two. Still out of breath whenever he tackles anything physical and there’s lots of puffing and panting, but the nebuliser that he’s using religiously has made a real difference to the daily cough routine. It’s much reduced….. here’s hoping it stays that way for a long time to come.

You will, no doubt, have watched the news today, and seen that it has been dominated by the significant increase in COVID cases; the result of the by-election in Shropshire, which the Conservatives conceded to the LibDems; and the fact that the man charged with investigating the ‘party’ at Downing Street last year, Simon Case, held his own ‘party’ in the same month during the same lockdown…… you can hardly make it up, can you?

98,045 people tested positive for the virus today. 111 people died in the community with the virus. 55 died in hospitals in the last 48 hours. 900 people were admitted to hospital today. That is over 6 thousand people in the last week, a rise of 8% on the previous week.

I gather that quite a few of those infected are NHS staff. This is going to be fun, isn’t it? Scientists are offering dire warnings of the difficulties we will encounter in hospitals because COVID patients are occupying beds. And NHS staff themselves are telling us that they are exhausted and suffering from anxiety. Well, who wouldn’t, if you are faced with the possibility of a COVID infection, every minute of every hour of every day?

Already, the London Ambulance Service was reduced by 100 ambulances tonight because nearly 400 staff are off sick with COVID.

As it is the season of goodwill, we are staying in. That means that the risk of us catching COVID is reduced, and the possibility, therefore, of burdening those poor NHS staff even more, is very much lessened. It may not be much but at least it’s something. I’d rather not be gifting COVID to anyone….. or receiving it as a gift from anyone else, how about you?

Take care everyone – stay as safe as you possibly can. God bless.

And, just before I go, here’s Christina Rosetti’s seasonal little ditty that reminds me that possessions aren’t everything.

What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a wise man, I would do my part;
Yet what can I give Him?
Give Him my heart.