Back to Tools & Resources

CIL President and CEO, Kent Schwendy, reflects on the changes brought on by the pandemic.

I wonder how many organizations in the past decade thought it would be a great idea to make a strategic plan and call it their 2020 Vision. I know I was involved in a couple and I’m quite certain that neither of them came anywhere close to what we’ve seen so far in 2020.

Like most of you, I’ve been trying to find a new balance the many changes that seem to confront me on a weekly, if not daily, basis. There are professional challenges and personal challenges, and sometimes there are just challenges that defy categorization.

My parents live in an area of Upstate New York known as the North Country. They both have conditions that make them high risk in these COVID-times, so they’ve largely stayed home and I’ve not had a chance to visit them much. A few times, we have met at a park near their home. I’m using the North Country definition of “near,” which means about a 45-minute drive for them and a 4-hour drive for me.

We’ve had picnic lunches and tried to understand each other through our masks. A couple of times my son has been able to join me for these visits. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we’ve come up with that we are all comfortable doing. I’m not sure what we’ll do when the snow starts flying up there, but I imagine we will find a way to get together.

Although I haven’t been to my parents’ home in months, I have often thought about the cross-stitched prayer framed in their front hall. “Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” I think this is a very appropriate prayer for our current situation.

In these times when it’s tempting to start playing Zoom games like counting the number of times you hear “uncertain” or “unprecedented,” perhaps we need to focus more on recognizing what we can change and what we can't.

Sure, there are plenty of things outside our control and we’ve all gotten a big slice of humble pie instead of our grand 2020 Vision. But let’s focus on what we can do and those who still need our help. We’ve had some wakeup calls on that front, too. Maybe 2020 will be the year that someday we look back on as the tipping point when having to be apart finally brought us together.