The CATHEDRAL TIMES The weekly newsletter of the Cathedral of St. Philip · Serving Atlanta and the World · March 8, 2020
ANXIETY IS CONTAGIOUS, BUT SO IS PEACE By the Very Rev. Sam Candler, Dean of the Cathedral Like you, I have followed all sorts of reports on the coronavirus infection across the world. And, like you, I have all sorts of reactions and words! Our neighbors at the CDC, and at the World Health Organization, provide verified information and measured caution. (Listen to them!) Television and media reports are ablaze with anxiety. (Listen to them for information, but do not let anxious fear overwhelm you!) Our government officials try to act responsibly and sensitively (Listen to them, too!). Meanwhile, here in Atlanta and around the world, I also hear another tone. It is the tone of individual people, friends and colleagues, who go about their lives calmly, steadily, and without inordinate anxiety. Most of us are like this! I am struck by how each of us tends to trust each other when we are face to face, when we are in relationship – but then we get scared, even panicked sometimes, by emotional extremism. All of you here at the Cathedral are hearing the same reports that I hear. The coronavirus is real, spreading around the world, and it will probably reach Georgia (a late report, as I write this, indicates that Georgia now has reported two cases). You have also heard the same advice that I have heard: Wash your hands. Wash your hands. Wash your hands! Be clean! Do not touch your mouth, nose, eyes, or face. With that behavior, the odds are that we will be fine. I advise us to stay in relationship, stay in communities that are healthy and calm, informed and cautious, but also unafraid and steady. Anxiety is contagious, but so is peace! Spread peace! At the Cathedral of St. Philip, we are committing ourselves even more to excellence in cleanliness and safety. But we are not cancelling or shortening events. We are always open, even as we advise friends and parishioners to follow the safest path for you. By way of more precise information, I have permission to recommend the words of a friend of mine, who is both a physician and the dean of St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral, in Seattle, Washington. Of course, the situation there in Seattle is still developing, as it is everywhere; but I have found his words helpful for the moment, and worth following. Listen to him!
A Message from The Very Reverend Steve Thomason, Dean of the St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, Washington, on Community Gathering and Viral Infections: Dear friends, While I believe the media have disproportionately reported hyperbolic news of the coronavirus (aka COVID-19, SARS-Co-V-2) outbreak, I have received communication from several in the cathedral community expressing concern about its potential impact on us in the Pacific Northwest, and I so I writing today to address various aspects of our common life, and ways we have and will be adapting in light of the concern. First, as a physician, let me reiterate what hopefully you’ve heard before (even if it is not headline news)—you are much more at risk for contracting or transmitting the common flu virus than you are of coronavirus, and getting the flu vaccine will reduce the risk to you and others. In fact, you are statistically about 50 million times more likely to contract the flu right now than you are the coronavirus. continued on page 8