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Campus update for March 17, 2020
Dear students,
Whether you're on campus or at home, the COVID-19 news can be stressful. So we hope you will study, but then take a break. Eat healthy meals, exercise and get plenty of sleep. The CDC says so!
Here's what's new:
• For those of you staying on campus, dining services will remain open and meal plans will continue through March 29.
The Gerber Center dining hall will be open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. through Thursday, and 7 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Friday. (See more hours.)
If you are sitting in the dining hall, please stay at least six feet apart from others. You can use plastic containers if you prefer to dine outside the hall. Dining services has created a grab-and-go station for those dining out.
• PepsiCo Recreation Center and the Westerlin Activity Center are closed. Carver PE Center's offices are open but its training facilities are closed.
• Our own Dr. Rebecca Heick did a Q & A about the outbreak on KWQC TV 6 last night. And she spent 45 minutes this morning with U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos discussing the situation. (Heads up, public health majors.)
• Whether you are a history major or not, check out Dr. Lendol Calder's video outreach.
Stay in touch, a message from Chaplain Richard Priggie
While we remain today in the Christian season of Lent, in more ways than one, a word from the Easter story may be especially encouraging this morning.
(And know that I will be offering insights from many world religions in this series of reflections on the pandemic. Yesterday: the Dalai Lama. Today a word from the Jewish and Christian traditions. Tomorrow: Mister Rogers. Stay tuned for even more diversity!)
The Easter story tells us that the first reaction of Jesus' closest followers to the "shock and awe" of resurrection was to huddle together in fear behind locked doors (John 20:19). Sound familiar?
Stay inside. Don't touch. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. These and other instructions make sense as we are each trying to do our part to end a pandemic.
Just know that Jesus walked right through the locked doors that Easter evening and said to them, Shalom, Peace be with you. That's how the story goes.
The word, shalom, in Hebrew, is most often translated as "peace" in English, and that is fine, as far as it goes. Just know that wishing someone shalom is saying that you intend that person to have all that they need for a full life: health, confidence, peace, and joy.
The story assures us that God is always at work to bring us shalom. So, then, expect shalom, speak shalom, be shalom today to those who most need it.
Pastor Richard W. Priggie
309-794-7478