The Covid-19 pandemic has cast many things about life in a new light. As we emerge from our personal experience of the period of the pandemic and living through lockdown, it’s good to take another look at how we see things now and how that might have changed as we go forward into the future.
Now is the time to do that before it’s too late. You may have already noticed how amazingly quickly we all return to our well-worn ways even after such a lengthy interruption to just about everything. Suddenly we are back at school, work, the gym, the shops, the cafe, church and it’s like we have never been away. It’s a reminder that habit is such a powerful thing. So, before we are consumed again by the busyness and business of life, how about a pause for thought? What might we be beginning to see differently and how would we hold on to that so that we might also live differently?
Another look at the world?
Maybe a global pandemic that started out on the far side of the world, but quickly ended up on our own doorstep, has been a reminder that our lives in the Western world are much more deeply interconnected with others overseas than we previously imagined. Perhaps that causes us to think again about how our actions can also have an impact on the lives of others we will never meet through how we choose to live, what we decide to buy, how we care for creation and love our neighbours in this global village. Do we care more deeply and love more widely?
Another look at others in my life?
Having spent so much time cut off from others in lockdown, did we gain a fresh insight into how much we need others in our lives and how dependent others might be on us? We were not made to be alone (Genesis 2:18). The void of isolation and feelings of helplessness, that used to be suffered in silence by so many who live lonely lives, suddenly came home to us all during the pandemic. Just seeing a fresh face, exchanging a smile with a stranger, engaging in a bit of small talk became so important. Do we find our self-sufficiency shaken and notice others more now?
Another look at church?
The part that church plays in our lives and the part we play in the life of the church maybe also came into sharper focus during the pandemic. How often have we taken the opportunity to worship God together with others for granted, until it was gone? How little have we appreciated the opportunity to talk with others and be encouraged or be an encourager? And those little things that we were able to do for others, that they did for us, how much they came to mean, what a difference they made. Do we see how much church matters now and that following Jesus can never be an individual pursuit?
Another look at myself?
Getting a bit more personal, what might we have learned about ourselves during the pandemic or lockdowns? Positively, maybe we discovered a resilience in God we didn’t know we had. Negatively though, did we see some of our idols exposed in those things we love that we could no longer pursue? Were some things shown up as just too important to us in our lives, while others were previously just not important enough? Do we better value what really matters now?
Another look at God?
Ultimately, the pandemic may have schooled us in the most important lesson of all - that we are not like God. Satan’s great lie to Adam and Eve in the garden was that they could sin and ‘would not die’ and that ‘they could be like God’ (Genesis 3:4-5). Too often we also have found ourselves deceived by living those lies. But suddenly an unseen virus raised the stakes for our super-confident generation. We are not immortal and we really could die – any of us, whatever our age or stage in life. We are not all-sufficient and we really do need to cry out to a God of grace for help from beyond ourselves. Have we become more aware of God, his presence, his peace, his protection?
Another look together
These are important conversations to be having with ourselves in our own minds and hearts in a quieter moment or two. However, they are also crucial conversations to be having with others if we are to grasp and ground the changes God wants to bring to our lives and if we are to take the almost unique opportunity he is giving us to have deeper conversations with others about the kind of shared experience that doesn’t come around very often in more normal times.
Another look? Resource
The Another look? resource has been produced to give us a handle on these questions, which we can also reach out to others to grasp the opportunity to begin to talk about how they might be beginning to see things differently. Introducing the five Another look? themes above in a very gentle way prompts reflection, along with a short portion of Scripture and a simple prayer of response, giving us words that we might not be able to find for ourselves, but which might take us to a very different place with God.
The content is flexible enough to be used in a variety of settings including, one-to-one discipleship conversations, while visiting to reconnect pastorally with fringe members, or as a kick start for a chat about life and God with someone with whom we rub shoulders where we live, work or play.
September will see the five areas for reflection also promoted on PCI social media so that congregations can share the material in tandem with using the booklet. The theme could become the basis for a post-pandemic five part sermon series that could be preached in parallel with the social media posts and distribution of the booklet among, or beyond, church members.
We might not get another opportunity like this one. How might you, or your congregation, take what might well be a once in a generation moment to both take another look at your life and give a gentle encouragement to others to do the same in theirs?
You can find full details of Another look? here
Rev David Thompson is Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland’s Council for Congregational Life and Witness.