The silence outside the house is a little unnerving. The birds clearly haven’t spotted the problem yet – they just keep tweeting. But, otherwise, here in Headingley, the skies are empty, the roads still and the stillness remarkable.
This morning I called a number of people to see how they are doing. All are in good spirits. But, we are only at the start of this mass experiment in dispersed togetherness. All the signs are that the lockdown will soon get tighter, but this means that we will all need to get more creative with how we relate and communicate.
Already there are some brilliant examples of how to do this – and the ability of people to find (or make) the funnies amid the misery is simply stunning. Twitter has come into its own.
The challenge for many people unused to limited company and social restriction will be how to establish some shape to each day – a routine that offers some order to an indeterminate future. For me this forced purdah means I shall spend longer in Morning and Evening Prayer each day. I will walk for exercise each day (without touching anyone out there, of course). I will study more, read more, and watch more films. I’ll also be on the phone and social media more, checking that vulnerable people and colleagues are OK.
I also intend to resume more regular posting on this blog than has been possible for several years. Radio scripts and journalism will still go up, but I’ll be offering more – possibly daily. We will be streaming some action/reflection stuff in Holy Week and Easter and I will also write. Provided there is something worth hearing, that is.
Christians read the Bible every day and some of us try to dig under the words to work out how these would have been heard by those to whom they were addressed. One of the themes that emerges time and again, but is easily missed when things are calm, is that of time. We cannot always control – and are never exempted from – what the world can throw at us; but we can learn to live faithfully through it all. Deserts, exiles, strangeness, loss, disorder and chaos: they are the experiences that gave rise to our scriptures as people tried to work out who God is, what life is for, and why we matter.
So, I guess we now enter an uninvited and unwelcome time of exile in which we have an opportunity to dig deep into ourselves and ask hard questions about life, the universe and everything. It might become a time of reorientation – like a hard retreat that compels is to face ourselves and the society we shape. As so many people suffer loss of loved ones, we will ask into which activities or relationships we invest our time and money; as so many lose jobs, homes or livelihood, we can decide if the economy exists for people or people for the economy.
Hard times, maybe; but, possibly times for renewal, too.
March 21, 2020 at 6:34 pm
Thank you, lovely to feel in touch so directly.
March 21, 2020 at 7:36 pm
Perhaps a re-setting too. Some things will be different post Coronavirus – too political and easily misunderstood to hazard a guess.
March 22, 2020 at 6:56 am
[…] country and about the poor, about health and the elderly. Above all we will have to think about our economy, who it is for, about what we fear and why, and make changes. We will have to think differently about educating […]
March 22, 2020 at 9:05 am
Hurrah ! Great use of unexpected restrictions. Keep encouraging us !
Am using unexpected leisure to brush up my Hebrew grammar, somewhat rusty after years of limited use!
March 22, 2020 at 12:04 pm
Short and sweet…message chimes with a streamed service I just heard from Elim Church, Cheltenham. Lots of challenges but also opportunities to become the people God wants us to be.
March 22, 2020 at 12:07 pm
Stopped myself posting “when all this is over” yesterday.
Jeremiah 29 – how does it translate for this exile?
March 22, 2020 at 3:19 pm
A hard retreat is a good description but hopefully won’t be too long or hard? I guess our parents knew hard times that went on a great deal longer. Apparently the churches filled during the hard times and then swiftly emptied afterwards. I have no idea which will be the way for us in 2020. ‘To hanker after’ that we’ve not been allowed to do or to find other ways of ‘being and living’? Thank you and look forward to more as we share this retreat from what has been known.
March 24, 2020 at 10:00 am
Reblogged this on hungarywolf.