Risking severe illness and life or Social Isolation are the new choices of a new reality with Covid for every community. A few eeks before Covid we enjoyed comfortable new chairs in our heated parlor chapel where we could stay and linger for Coffee hour after each Sunday service. Plenty of time to comment, snack, plan and yes, even gossip a little.

Then it was suddenly wise to stay home, and isolate especially the most vulnerable family members or friends. Our congregation was suddenly “on hold”, and this did leave a serious void during a time when we had so many new questions.

However, like so many other churches we discoved and harnessed the virtual spaces of YouTube, ZOOM, Facebook and Email. Our Minister, David Hutchinson quickly took the lead, and others volunteered. Meanwhile we have hitched together a fresh weekly recorded YouTube service available any time Sunday morning followed with the less strucured, interactive, and personable Zoom based Coffee hour scheduled 11 am every Sunday.

The thorn of truly missing the congrgational gathering in the warm parlor of our majestic church has bloomed a new rose: Our church is still the home setting for our Sunday services, and while we are not there physically. The camera and a computer is there for us. We are now virtually there, from wherever we happen to be safely isolated.

Thanks to the internet for temporarily providing a safer alternative to worship at our church and still retaining a sense of community with virtually recreating a reinvented experience of the ole Coffe Hour.

However, I am concerned. Who is left behind? Who would like to be there but can’t. Who is quietly suffering isolation? Who is afraid to ask for help, or feels left behind, because there are real and perceived cost and technology entry barriers?

As individuals of a community we need to sharpen our sense of community care and look for people within our individual protective bubbles who are thus isolated from their usual social circles, and reach out to them. A call, (masked, and or socially distanced) visit will go a long way. Helping each other within our community connect to each other, and most impoirtantly to their family and friends through the internet has become an important calling against social isolation.

Sharing resources and explaining knowhow do wonders to lighten the brutal isolation from family and friends of social distancing. If you understand the apps, services and internet access can you help a neighbor with the logistics of installing the necessary programs and signing up to services? Consider sharing internet access through signal boosting and access password sharing. Or helping a UU member or friend access the Youtube services, and helping them to sign up with Zoom and the invitation link to our virtual coffe hour.

Northen new England is a burg for wonderfully hardy and stoic people,… who will help readily but often don’t want to be burdensome and thus shy from calling for help. One way of giving thanks is sharing forward and anticipating where appropriate help will become welcomed.

Not meaning to plug or profit from specific products or services, we see their contributions: Did you know that the Houlton Library has great free internet, good computers ready to use, comfortable armchairs to sit and access their wifi, and helpful staff, to help folks become better connected?

Many businesses, like Walmart, McDonalds, Truckstop and even the Laundromat provide free internet access that also often works in their parking lots. Sometimes it costs little or nothing to share your internet signal with a neighbor who has none. Sometimes you can boost the signal to give neighbors or friends access to your interenet in your driveway or even to their home close by with a $50 internet signal booster.

We all remember when computers were expensive, and there is still a lingering stigma from that. However, with some honest help, computers and software to access the internet cost less than a meal for a family in a restaurant. Amazon sells and even configures their capable Fire Tablets for as little as $60 and access to email, Facebook, Zoom and YouTube as well as many other communication programs in their basic form is usually free (but may subject the user advertisement).

Choices in the computer/communication world are vast and confusing. Yet, once that “red” tape is cut, to watch a friend reconnect with a loved one with a happy smile is priceless!

Many people are confounded by these choices, perceived costs and know how entry barriers. This is where we can all help each other, and share the bounty of a little tech savvyness.

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