A Message from the LPPC Health & Safety Committee

May 19, 2020

********************************************* Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for

the Lord your God goes with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9.

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Topics in this document (click hyperlink to skip to that section)

At a Glance (Important phone numbers and resources for New Mexico) Trusted Source Updates LPPC News and Information LPPC Member Stories and Photos LPPC Contacts A Moment for Reflection

Trusted Source Updates (CDC, NMDOH, FDA, NM Governor)

NM Department of Health: COVID-19 testing is now open to all workers in New Mexico May 12, 2020 | Press Room SANTA FE – The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) announces COVID-19 testing for all workers in the state. This includes: all government employees (state, county, municipal, federal, etc.), utility and construction workers, grocery and pharmacy employees,... (https://cv.nmhealth.org/category/press-room/)

o Link to all testing sites in NM: https://cvprovider.nmhealth.org/directory.html

NM Department of Health: Beginning May 16, a facemask must be worn in public places (except when eating, drinking or exercising).

o Because this is now a requirement rather than a request, we are re-posting the NMDOH guidance on making and wearing a facemask (note that this was posted before the Governor’s order mandating facemask wearing): https://cv.nmhealth.org/wp-

At-A-Glance: Important phone numbers and resources for New Mexico

o Coronavirus hotline: 1-855-600-3453 o For non-health related COVID-19 related questions: 1-833-551-0518 o Senior food hotline: 1-800-432-2080 o List of COVID-19 testing sites: https://cv.nmhealth.org/public-health-screening-and-testing/

content/uploads/2020/04/NMDOH-COVID-19-Cloth-Face-Covering-Guidance_approved-1.pdf

o We’re also re-posting a link to a short video of the US Surgeon General demonstrating how to easily make a facemask from just about any type of fabric you might have (Yes, it IS easy – even I can make one!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPx1yqvJgf4

LPPC News and Information

How is the church functioning in these COVID days? Session’s decision to establish a temporary hiatus on face-to-face church activities to protect the health and safety of members may cause people to wonder what that means with respect to the many different activities we do. As many have noted, however, the church is not a building but rather its people. We’ve moved most of our church functions to non face-to-face platforms such as Zoom and limiting access to the church building and grounds except for essential activities such as check-signing, essential building maintenance and essential garden maintenance. If you have an essential function other than these or any questions about your particular activity, please contact the LPPC Office Manager (Karen Cox), Building Committee Chair (Diane Shepard), Grounds Chair (Jill Hensley) or HSC Chair (Jacque Fletcher) (contact info in the church directory).

Note to LPPC Employees: Session has approved an additional month of payment for church employees, through June.

LPPC Member Stories and Photos of Coping in This Time

Debbie Steuber of Mothers’ Day Out is staying busy: I am hanging in there...getting lots of closets cleaned! I always said I never had time to get to that, it was just too overwhelming to do...well no excuse now;-). My son also bought me a subscription to Ancestry so I am having fun exploring and adding to our family tree! I also FaceTime with both my sons, my 10 year old grandson and my soon to be 1 year old grandson! We had a family Zoom meeting for Hunter’s first Easter Egg hunt and will do another for his 1st birthday on the 19th. I have “Happy Hour” zooms on Monday evening with friends and once a month we all “get together” and watch a movie then chat over a glass of wine. I have been reaching out to my munchkins & family with fun craft ideas, scavenger hunts, cards with pictures of all of them so they can remember their friends!! I am getting cute little emails and cards from some of the kidlets I have a treadmill so I do my daily walk on that. I get outdoors to trim rose bushes or pull the dreaded weeds! I also just sit and read while listening to the birds. I have some little yellow finches that come in the afternoon to the fountain for a bath

What is it that gives YOU power for the journey? Would you share a photo showing a favorite coping strategy? What kindness have you observed? We’d like to include your answers in our next HSC message mailing! Please email your stories, pictures and thoughts to: Jacque Fletcher (jacqueline.fletcher@okstate.edu)

LPPC Contacts

LPPC Pastors

Bill Humphreys, Interim Pastor (wwhumphreys@aol.com, 262-853-4918); Ken Cuthbertson, Parish Associate (scotscotnm@aol.com, 505-256-1162); Anne Hays Egan, Parish Associate (aegan@cybermesa.com, 505-699-7706)

LPPC Health and Safety Committee

Jacque Fletcher, Chair (jacqueline.fletcher@okstate.edu; 505-508-5721); Don Collins (ripleyescapade21@gmail.com; 505-288-5610); Elizabeth Dickson (el_dickson45@hotmail.com; 505-980-6934), Anne Hays Egan (aegan@cybermesa.com; 505-699-7706), Pat Thorpe (placitas@icloud.com; 505-400-9046

A Moment for Reflection

In this space we share, with each HSC message, an additional ray of hope and lightness. Chilean poet/activist Pablo Neruda (1904-1073), one of the most beloved poets of all time, won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. His poetry spoke of love, longing and nature, as well as politics. Often, those worlds would meet in his poems. Although Neruda did not experience the COVID-19 pandemic, the excerpts of this poem can speak to us today.

A Callarse (Keeping Quiet) Pablo Neruda

Now we will all count to twelve

And we will all keep still. This one time upon the earth, let’s not speak any language,

let’s stop for one second, and not move our arms so much.

It would be a delicious moment,

without hurry, without locomotives, all of us would be together

in a sudden uneasiness. Now I will count to twelve

and you keep quiet and I’ll go.

* Ahora contraremos doce

y nos quedamos todas quietas. Por una vez sobre la tierra

no hablemos en ningún idioma, por un segundo detengámonos, no movamos tanto los brazos.

Sería un minuto fragante, sin prisa, sin locomotoras, todos estaríamos juntos

en una inquietud instantánea. Ahora contare hasta doce

y tut e callas y me voy.

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