To say the least, we are living in tumultuous and stressful times. COVID-19 is still out there and we don’t exactly know how that’s going to play out. There is great social and racial unrest. There are scores of people out of work and struggling to buy food. On top of all that, the “normal” life problems (relationships, family struggles, home and car repairs, etc.) are still with us. In addition, the political system seems more committed to blaming the other party than it does to finding solutions. It’s just a tough situation.

One thing that has been challenging about all of this upheaval (for me at least), is the range of reactions to it. For example, on the topic of the COVID crisis, I have found friends and people I respect very much hold widely differing opinions. Some think we overreacted to the COVID situation while others think we underreacted. Some say things should have opened up earlier while others say we went back to work too soon. The same polarization is present as people address the racial and social unrest. Some conclude all policemen are bad while others think all protestors are criminals. Neither is true.

With all of this in mind, I have thought about what God’s reaction would be to our current condition. I would never presume to know the mind of God, but I think I have one thought that seems to fit. I think God is greatly grieved.

As you might recall, last week’s article was an encouragement to develop a “new normal” in regard to busyness. This choice of topic was built around two notions, the first being that many of us (even pre-COVID) have struggled with feeling over-extended and stressed because of our “normal” crowded lifestyle. The second notion was the reality that many of us have had to slow down as we have dealt with the restrictions imposed by COVID. In fact, several people have commented they were grateful for these changes. Subsequently, this appears to be a natural time to make some adjustments. However, I did not make any suggestion or offer any thoughts on how to make these changes. That was a significant oversight on my part. I can remember multiple instances in which someone encouraged me to make changes that I agreed with, but left no information on how to do this. Hopefully, this post will be helpful for those of you who want to develop a “new normal” in regard to busyness. Here are some thoughts:

As we go through our current health situation, people are frequently using the term “new normal.” We speculate on what behaviors and perspectives will need to change following COVID-19. The assumption seems to be that these adaptations will become a regular part of our lives thus becoming a “new normal.” With all of that in mind, I want to share some thoughts about something I hope can be a part of a “new normal” for many of us.

Charles Dickens begins his classic book, A Tale of Two Cities, with this opening paragraph:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair,”.

The book was published in 1859, but this opening seems relevant for today. I think Dickens was trying to describe the complexity, confusion, and paradoxes of the age. So how would we describe the age we have been living in these past few months? Based on what I’ve heard people say, I would have to describe it as the age of “I don’t know what’s going to happen or what to do”. It is a season of uncertainty and unrest.

One of the effects of the COVID-19 situation is that some new words have become part of our “normal” vocabulary. For example “flattening the curve” and “social distancing” are terms that become a regular part of our communication. Another word that is not new but is being used with greater frequency is the word “essential”. We have heard about essential businesses, essential workers, etc.

With all that in mind I have been wondering about what are some essentials for following Jesus during this season of unrest. I believe there are many things that are good, but might not be essential. Here are four essentials:

At the risk of making one of the most preposterous understatements of all time, I’m going to begin by saying that COVID-19 has had a major impact on almost all areas of our lives and our society. It has brought to light many things that we don’t normally think about. For example, it has reminded us that heroes are not necessarily famous people like athletes, movie stars, politicians, etc. Many true heroes are in the medical community ranging from physicians to janitors. Others work in the various service industries. This has been a good observation.

Another good reminder is we don’t control as much as we thought we did. We see who we are in the grand scheme of things.

However, COVID-19 has also exposed some troubling things such as shortages of necessary medical supplies and inadequacy of delivery systems. In the long run this will also be a good lesson because you can’t fix a problem until you discover there is a problem.

Years ago, I heard a saying that “Crisis makes the man.” In other words, crisis situations help us grow. One can’t disagree with that, but there is another aspect: “Crisis also shows what the person already is.” With that in mind, what have the virus and quarantine exposed in us that we weren’t aware of? Here are two questions we might ask ourselves in that regard:

As people who know me will attest, one thing I am very good at is nagging. It’s a skill that been finely crafted down through the years. I mention this because what I am getting ready to write could across as nagging because I have mentioned it so frequently over the past weeks. It is an encouragement to stay in the battle. Take good care of yourselves. As time has passed, it is easy to become weary about this whole situation. For example, I find myself being tempted to not wash my hands as much or slip into this store or that store without a mask, etc. I don’t know what precautions you are taking, but don’t stop. We need to complete the race. We need to “relax” without being “lax” and that’s no easy task. So the question becomes “how do we do that?” Should we just keep plodding onward? That type of discipline might be a part of it, but I would like to suggest something much more meaningful.

As a general rule the majority of us don’t like “messy”. Some of us can tolerate it better than others, but overall even those in that category eventually need some clarity. This is difficult because much of normal life is lived in what I call the “messy middle”. That is, In many situations, we simply do not have clear cut, black white, yes-no types of options. We are all in some sort of messy combination. We do some things well and some things not so well. Some things we do are healthy and some aren’t. Some of our behaviors and thoughts are Godly and some aren’t. Paul talked about this on a very personal level in Romans 7 when he said something to the effect that he found himself doing some things he didn’t want to do and not doing some things he wanted to do. It was “messy”, not clear cut. He found it very distressing and described it by saying “what a wretched man I am”.

We are now in week 4 of the Quarantine of 2020 and it looks like it’s going to be an emotional, physical, and spiritual marathon. Marathons are long and grueling races. This one is particularly difficult because there is so much uncertainty. We don’t even know where the finish line is. Some of us (especially if we don’t have kids in school) can even become a bit uncertain about what day it is. Margie received a text from a friend that pointed out that traditional names for days of the week have been exchanged for “this day, that day, the other day, someday, yesterday, today, and next day”. Obviously a bit of an overstatement, but there is some truth in it.

Margie and I participated in a marathon many years ago (it wasn’t pretty but we made it). One of the things I learned during that whole process was that you have to monitor how are doing all during the race. Are you going the right pace, how is your body holding up, etc.? With that in mind, it seemed a good time to check in with ourselves. How am I doing in this COVID-19 marathon?