i ain’t shaming anyone for wanting to see their folks, for wanting to be around their peoples. at all. it is really harrowing and unnatural and difficult not seeing and touching and holding the folks you hold dear. i fully understand and empathize with wanting to share presence. https://twitter.com/ashoncrawley/status/1287056043223257088

the thing i most miss is the noise. in restaurants, it’s not just the direct conversation and sustained attention but the ambience of it all, the laughter from that table over there, the low murmurs, the signs of life and breath.

i miss lingering in the presence of friends, sharing a bottle of (now for me at least) sparkling water, and a glass or two of wine too. for hours, just being there.

and dating someone and that moment happens when you sense in their eyes that some something happened and they sense it, and sense it in you, too so you stare and, without even having to think about it, hold hands. and that is the magic.

i understand why church folks, the ones i love, wanna be in the building with each other. sure, religious community ain’t the brick and mortar, no, but, at least for black folks, so much of the dynamism of worship is in antiphony.

sharing space is the occasion to build and change and grow:

how the movement of spirit happens when someone begins shouting and the organist begins playing softly behind but builds a bit more and more and then begins to push the congregation to praise, and he over there shakes the tambourine ...

and she over there runs up next to that other him and they dance together and someone holds another who is crying tears of lament and another claps while sitting ...

and another - first time visitor - sits confused and thinks it all incredulous and showy, and those kids are nodding off in the pews.

i get it.

so no, i don’t shame folks for wanting to be together, to share presence. presence is how so much of us share in laughter and love. in big congregating and small erotic and platonic ways.

but this virus makes it so dangerous to do so. and we’re nowhere near being in the the clear with it all.

peace to everyone feeling empty and sad because of separation. and peace to those that have lost folks. and peace to those that find it all difficult to hold on. we need peace. and joy.