For even though we feel that nothing is normal anymore, we have been talking about it quite a bit.
We've even developed the phrase "the new normal" - as though we as a culture are going to quickly adapt to a new standard. We know better - we are (generally) still lamenting that we have lost our pre-COVID "normal".
So I've been using a different phrase: the new reality. It means the same thing - what a COVID-era 'typical state or condition' is. But it speaks to our subconsciences of a difference. And that matters: for when we frame something new as being different, we tend to be less limited in our understanding, based on past experience. Thus, we tend to be less resistant to embracing the change.
So we have a new reality - a new
'usual' for how we live - we wear masks, we maintain our 2m distance, we don't
have as many hugs or events. And this will become the norm, as our new reality
begins to feel normative.
In the church, many people are
feeling the disconnect - the church that has been stable throughout our lives,
now is... well, different. It sounds different, it feels different - and the
church is known for not really liking "different". But we also know
that unless we release what has been, we will not be open to what is, and what
is coming.
I think it's helpful for us to
realise that the church has always dealt with changes, however, and even as
this change has been unexpected and fast, the church remains the constant.
For whatever is taking place, and we
are practicing the previous normal alongside the new reality: we are praying;
we are praising; we are listening to God's Word; we are sharing; we are
reaching out to the community; we are seeking justice; we are advocating for
peace; we are the voice of the oppressed; we are the followers of Jesus who
journey in faith.
We are the church - the church of
yesterday, the church of COVID, the church of tomorrow.
The church, therefore, is serving -
as it always has - as a timeless constant in a world of change. We have the
great privilege to carry forth a bold new reality of God's loving revelation -
and to make that grace normal to all who will receive it.
Isa 43.19 "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"
Thank you for this and every blog. To remind myself that the church has survived upheavals from disease such as today's Covid 19, a pestilence that killed 1/3 of Europe's population, famines throughout the ages,and wars that involved all the western nations, is to remind myself that the church can survive and will find a new way to go forward.
ReplyDelete