The Bell

Gordon in Orvieto Resident Assistant Emily Friesen shares about the 10 days she had with the spring semester cohort before the global COVID-19 pandemic altered their plans.

As many of us try to navigate our new housebound “normal,” Joel Cox ’16 shares what we can learn from the habits of Jesus and from La Vida’s “solo” experiences.

“As we all process the state of the world, may we too do it in the context of faith, trust and hope in God. We can grieve the losses caused by this pandemic and we can struggle to rebuild a routine and find a new normal, but let’s do this still saying, ‘[the LORD] is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’ (Psalm 91:2).”

Right now, we are God’s people whose despair can find glimpses of hope when our imaginations break out into trust-filled declarations that God will be faithful even when we don’t yet know what that looks like.

Here is what we cling to: In the midst of it all, God is present. God still goes before us. When we look at a map of the world, every single place is known by God and present to God. God is present.

As Gordon’s week of “pause” comes to an end today and classes resume online next week, here are some tips for how you can make the transition to online learning from wherever you may be.