By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Mosaic Life Care CEO, Dr. Mark Laney, has written a book about the experience of caregivers and patients in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.
“A Balloon Into the Sky,” shares 40 stories of patients and caregivers working their way through the uncertainty of those early days of the pandemic.
“I felt compelled that we needed to capture these stories and provide some healing; a path to healing, primarily for our caregivers, but then subsequently for our community,” Laney tells reporters during a news briefing at Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph.
Laney says the book is meant to be read as a devotion, one chapter a day. He says the book shuns the topics of controversy and seeks to be a book of healing.
It is co-written by Kris Daise, Internal Communications Manager at Mosaic.
Proceeds from sales of the book go to the Mosaic Life Care Foundation.
The book tells 40 stories taken from the first frightening days of the pandemic.
“As we began writing, it became clear that this wasn’t just about St. Joseph, that this was a historical moment for our country, that all of us would end up remembering and that we were actually capturing the history of what was happening across America, not just what was happening in St. Joseph,” according to Laney.
Laney, who is a Sunday school teacher at Ashland Methodist Church in St. Joseph, says the book draws on various religions and spiritual traditions as those impacted by COVID-19 try to make sense of their experiences during the pandemic. Laney hopes readers will gain a greater sense of peace and understanding from the stories told between its covers; stories both of sadness and of victory.
Laney projects that healing once the pandemic subsides will bring wisdom and discernment, a better understanding of our place in the world, even our calling.
Laney says as others talked about masks and possible vaccines, Mosaic kept coming back to healing.
“It applies as much to families as it does to caregivers. It applies as much to citizens, to try and get some understanding and point of reference of what just happened and what it means in our lives. And it’s going to have an effect for many, many years to come,” Laney says. “We are changed forever, because of what has happened.”
